Daily Times

“Minority” is a Latin word derived from “minor,” which means smaller. American Heritage Dictionary defines that “minority is an ethnic, religious or another group with a distinctive presence with litter power or representation relative to other groups within a society.”

The term “minority” was given legal status by the sub-commission on “Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities” in 1977 in Article 27 of International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR) December 16, 1966. In this article, it was declared that “Minorities are considered to be a group numerically inferior to the rest of the population of the state, in a non-dominant position, whose members being citizens of a state, possess ethnic beliefs or linguistic characteristics differing from the rest of the population and show if only implicitly, a sense of solidarity directly towards preserving their culture, traditions, religions or language”.

Minorities are considered to be people with less power in any sovereign state. They are regarded as migrated people from some other states in search of shelter or to find peace. Migration is a movement of people from one region to another or from one country to another country for different reasons. It happens in two situations: involuntary and voluntary. If people are deprived of their state in conflict situations based on human rights violations, persecution, military aggression, repression, man-made disaster or through a natural disaster, such movements are called involuntary migrations. When people cross the international border in such situations to seek refuge, they are called “refugees.”

Voluntary migration takes place when people from one country move to another for better livelihood. These are called labour or economic migrants. Hence, the term “migration” covers all cases, whether people migrate voluntarily or by force. There are some other kinds of migration taking place at the national level or internally from one place to another. These are called Internal Displaced people or IDPs. Examples of such IDPs in Pakistan are people who migrated from Swat to other regions of Pakistan during the wars against terrorists in Swat and North Waziristan region.

The legal bond of nationality is the right of every citizen in any state but stateless people don’t have such facilities

According to the UNHCR report, there are 78.8 million people worldwide who do not have the freedom to raise their voices in a state, where they live and are forcibly displaced. Of them, 41.3 million are IDPs; 25.9 million refugees and 3.5 million peoples asylum-seekers across the world.

The legal bond of nationality is the right of every citizen in any state but stateless people don’t have such facilities. Neither do they have the citizenship of their birth country nor do other states allow them to claim it.

There are vast numbers of stateless people worldwide. The partition of the Indian subcontinent left behind a big question for the people of South Asia, including people of Kashmir, Rohingya and Biharis. They are the most affected people in the region and are helpless to raise their voice against the injustice being treated.

The stateless people in Bangladesh are known as Biharis or Stranded Pakistanis. From 1947 till 1971, they enjoyed their citizen status.

However, during the partition of the subcontinent, nearly one million non-Bengali Muslims migrated from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to the then East Pakistan, which is now known as Bangladesh. It is said that more than one million Urdu-speaking Biharis reside in Bangladesh and Pakistan. The tension between East and West Pakistan in 1971 declared them, pro-Pakistanis, in terms of their religion and language. It was believed that this community could survive better in East Pakistan because of their stance towards Pakistan Army.

The Bihari community became vulnerable as it faced the Bengali people, who used to consider them as pro-nationalists of Pakistan after the surrender of Pakistan’s army on December 16, 1971. Properties of many Biharis were seized by Bengali and they were killed mercilessly in the hostile war. Since that time, many Biharis are treated as orphans of the state and have been deprived of their basics rights.

Statelessness has had a terrible impact on the lives of individual Biharis in Bangladesh, treated with the same yardstick. They cannot participate in society or even enjoy basic human rights. They constantly face different problems and humiliations. They do not have any legal protection from the state. They have been deprived of political, economic and social rights. Neither can they buy properties nor work in government services. They are not entitled to sign documents, cannot get a proper education or health care and even get married without proper authorisation. So much so that this community cannot even register the births of their children.

The Supreme Court’s 2008 decision partially recognised their right as the citizens of Bangladesh and listed them in electoral cards. A question, however, can still be raised: whether these people have been allowed their moral rights? Humanitarian organisations might guide us better in this regard.

The writer works at the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad (ISSI)