Bangladesh plans to improve life of stranded Biharis, Says PM

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that her government has a plan to ensure a better life for stranded Biharis considering the humanitarian ground despite the fact that they had chosen to go to Pakistan after independence of Bangladesh in 1971, reports the official news agency BSS.  She said that the Biharis wanted to go to Pakistan and take Pakistani citizenship after independence of Bangladesh but Pakistan never accepted them. However, several generations of Biharis were born after 1971 and we want to see human beings as human beings, said Prime Minister Hasina. She said that Biharis are now living in Bangladesh with their children and  grandchildren and they are leading an inhumane life in the small place in Geneva Camps. 
Prime Minister Hasina said that Biharis are very diligent and they have the skills to do various types of jobs. She said that the government wanted to arrange good accommodation for them and engage them in jobs for which they have skills. The government is working to create employment opportunities for them so that they can lead good human lives. The ‘Stranded Bihari’ community in Bangladesh refers to the non-Bengali speaking Muslims who came to the then East Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947 mostly from Bihar. Later during the 1971 liberation war of Bangladesh, many of the Urdu-speaking Biharis supported the Pakistani army leading to long standing distrust and stigma after Bangladesh became independent in 1971. They were accommodated in makeshift camps in the country's 13 districts. The Capital city Dhaka alone accommodates more than 1 lakh Biharis in resettlement camps. Geneva Camp is the largest of such camps in Dhaka.