The ignored plight of fellow countrymen: the Bengalis

While Pakistanis are engulfed in the opposition's alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) political
gatherings, there is a community residing in 116 colonies in Karachi questioning their existence in the
country. These are the 2 lakh Bengali speaking people struggling every second of their day in Pakistan.

Often misunderstood as refugees, these Bengalis are in reality the stateless people. They migrated from
East Pakistan before 1974 and settled in West Pakistan for better economic opportunities. With their
third generation in the country, they are denied their right to citizenship. To prove their identity, they
need to prove their relationship and patriotism to the country through their documents. The older the
document, the more is their loyalty to the country. From a legal point of view, the third generation of
Bengalis do not require old documents because they were born in Pakistan and are entitled to birthright
citizenship. However, they are denied that right only because of their ethnicity.

That's where their plight begins. The young generation cannot attain higher education because they do
not have parental ID documents. Similarly, they cannot apply for their own ID card or B-form. Lack of
education means exclusion from the already few available job opportunities. Consequently, this youth,
which is the asset of the country, will become a liability. A generation in these slums is growing up with
shattered mental health and resentment burning inside them.

The ordeal of the older generation is worse. They face harassment at the hands of the police which
crashes their self-esteem. The only way for them to earn is fishing. However, now the law enforcement
agencies rigorously check the CNICs of the fisherman before they go into the sea. Thus, now these
stateless people have no way to meet their day’s ends. Worse is that they are denied the right to avail
the public utilities like health because they are Bengalis.

With terror in his eyes, and anger in his voice, I faced a 55-year-old Bengali residing in one of the oldest
and largest slums in Karachi – Machar colony. Just a simple question of how he was doing, hurtled his
emotions of agony. His reply was, “ek kagaz ke tukre ne zindagi kharab kardi hai (a piece of paper has
ruined the life)”. He was referring to the identity card. His only wish was that he and his parents have
suffered therefore he does not want his children and the generations to come to go through the same
ordeal. He said that his only fault is that he looks like a Bengali and speaks Bengali otherwise he is as
much Pakistani as everyone else around him.

The reality is that the ethnic bigotry is so deeply ingrained in Pakistanis that they have refused to
acknowledge the human rights violation they are committing each day. There are laws in place which
only need to be implemented with transparency for a community to end their suffering and integrate
the people of bengali origin in Pakistani society so that Pakistan could become a plural, inclusive and
progressive state as envisaged by its founders.