|
Caught between here, there, and nowhere
By Tabibul Islam
March 21, 2000
Dhaka - It's not a shortage of eligible grooms, but an acute accommodation
problem that's the reason behind a large number of women remaining single in
the cramped refugee camps for Pakistani nationals in Bangladesh.
Hard pressed to raise money to build even an extra room, refugee parents are in
a bind. There are some 20,000 unmarried girls in the 65 camps spread across the
country. These were set up to shelter Pakistanis who remained after the
creation of Bangladesh in December 1971.
"Where shall I live with my wife if I marry right now?" asks a 30-year-old man,
pointing to the tiny one room in which he lives with his parents, and eight
siblings and cousins in a camp at Mohammadpur.
Sheikh Md Jalaluddin owns a small semi-permanent room in the camp. His two
daughters are of marriageable age, but he cannot afford to build two rooms for
them. Each would cost about $700. "Where can I get so much money from?" he
laments.
These refugees, who are called Biharis since they are originally from Bihar,
India - having migrated to what was then East Pakistan in 1947 - have been
interred in refugee camps in the hope of being repatriated to Pakistan. But
successive governments in Islamabad have stalled on the issue, unwilling to
risk a backlash against a fresh flux of outsiders in Sindh province where a
majority of refugees from India had settled following the creation of Pakistan
in 1947.
Nor are the Urdu-speaking Biharis are welcome in Bangladesh. Though the
majority of refugees in the camps were born after 1971, they are still seen as
having sided with the Pakistani army during the country's liberation war. Over
the last two decades they have tried all possible ways to draw international
attention to their plight, taking to the streets, holding demonstrations and
hunger protests. "Our life is hell, the animals are better than us," says a
very bitter Jalaluddin, a refugee.
Tanvir Adnan, a young Bihari thinks there's no future for young people like him
in the camps. It's worse for the girls, he says. There's every chance of their
going "astray", he adds. Another refugee said young women in the camps are
targetted by sex-traffickers and pimps. There is a hint that sometimes the
girls leave willingly because of the bleakness of life in the camps.
Ejaj Ahmed Siddiqui, chairman of the one of the groups representing the
refugees, says his organization offers monetary assistance for the marriage of
poor Bihari girls. "But our capacity to help is limited," he adds.
The Bihari refugee camps are squalid. Piles of garbage lie unclaimed,
everywhere. Sanitation is deplorable and water supply is scarce. Residents have
to queue up for hours to use the toilets. Tempers run high, and fights and
scuffles are common sights as people hurriedly try to get ready for work. Many
of the younger people have found jobs in the garment and sari-weaving
factories, handicraft units and other small establishments. But many more are
involved in the illicit liquor trade, and in petty crime.
Older refugees blame Pakistan for the mess they are in. After four rounds of
repatriation of some 175,000 Biharis between 1974 and 1992, the rest have been
left to languish in camps, they say.
Refugees under 35 years are increasingly reluctant to share their parents'
hopes of migrating to Pakistan. Born in Bangladesh, they want to become
Bangladeshi citizens.
A 40-year-old Bihari with two children said two generations of his people have
led "sub-human" lives in refugee camps awaiting repatriation. "Our children are
now studying in Bangladeshi schools and speak Bangla. Bangladeshi culture is
now our culture. We have no intention to go to Pakistan if the Bangladesh
government gives us citizenship, voting rights and other facilities," he says
determinedly.
Some refugee leaders are now publicly making this demand. Addressing a press
conference at the National Press Club, Dhaka, on March 5, Sadakat Khan,
president of a refugee youth organization, said they would "prefer" to stay.
"We prefer to rehabilitate and settle ourselves in Bangladesh deviating from
the earlier stand of repatriation which seems a closed chapter with no prospect
at all."
Urging the government to accept them as nationals, he said Pakistan has
betrayed them. He said that while Pakistan provided food and shelter, and even
arms, to some 4 million Afghan refugees during the communist-rule in Kabul, it
ignored the Biharis in Bangladesh.
"Pakistan is testing nuclear bombs and weapons and also providing help to
Kashmiris fighting against India. But it is a matter of shame to say that
Pakistan cannot afford the burden of its own citizens stranded in Bangladesh,"
said Khan.
Copyright 1999-2004, AsianSexGazette.com. All rights reserved. No
content may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission.
Please contact us via the link below for re-print and syndication policies.
|
|
Little
fair for the fairer sex
12-16-2000
|
