Forgotten Refugees of Bangladesh
History is a very interesting topic to talk about, one can’t move forward without knowing the origins. We have learned from our expertise that if we chop the roots of a tree, it won’t survive, or if he pluck a rose from the plant it won’t last long.
Am writing this article to put some light on the one of the darkest, unknown and silent topic of forgotten history, the vulnerable, the unjust topic “ The Forgotten Refugees Of Bangladesh”.
Kab nazar main aay gi baydagh sabzay ki bahar,
Khoon kay dabbay dhulain gay kitni barsatoon kay baad.
Fall of Dakha is a never ending debate and we should take responsibility for it. When there is war, there is death on both sides, there is the abduction of rights and unjust on both sides, there is the loss of humanity, economy, infrastructure and everything, in-short there is victory for no one but the defeat and loss. These are the known fact of war but what if fate prolonged the miseries and make you suffer for a lifetime for being loyal to one’s motherland.
Such is the condition of 250,000 Urdu-speaking Pakistanis who took refuge in the Geneva camps and other areas nearby Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh. They are leading forcefully a vulnerable life of half naked, starving bellies, unsheltered , without identity, a miserable life, a life of refugee.
The antidote of Beharis is one of the miserable and bad fortune, they were once leading a prosperous and dignified life, of traders and accountants. They came to this delta region of Bay of Bengal at the time of independence and partition of India and Pakistan.
Back in the year 1971, again a war broke down between the neighbor states of India and Pakistan and with Indian conspiracy the land of East Pakistan had to be separated from West Pakistan and there laid the foundation of what today called Bangladesh.
At that time these unfortunate Beharis wrongfully decided to side with Pakistani Government against the Bangladesh Forces backed by Indian politician and troops. Regrettably, Pakistan Army couldn’t managed to safeguard the sovereignty of East Pakistan and surrendered to the Indian troops, in this way we lost an entire region of East Pakistan. And there these Urdu-speaking Pakistanis were labeled as traitors by the new government and sent to the Bay of Bengal with completely erased identity to led a life of refugees.
Till date they are living unsheltered in small cells, with no food, education and a proper livelihood, are forced to live on scraps, women selling their bodies for less than 0.5 dollars, children dying before reaching the age of 5, permanent starving and vulnerability had housed in the camps, a fall of humanity on which Pakistan is still blind eyed.