After hindu migration in 1946
and 1947, further migration continued from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)to
West Bengal. In 1950, it is estimated that a further 10
lakhs refugees crossed into West Bengal. The 1951 Census of India documented
that 27% of Kolkata's population was East Bengali refugees.In 1960s, migration
continued, right up to the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, both on an
on-going basis and with sudden spurts during periods of communal unrest, such
as the 1964 riots and the 1965 India-Pakistan War, when it is estimated that
600,000 refugees left for India. Estimates of the number of refugees up to 1970
are over 50 lakhs to West Bengal alone. This includes around 41 lakhs coming
between 1946–1958 and 12 lakhs coming between 1959 and 1971.
The majority of East Bengali
refugees settled in the new state of West Bengal, but a significant number also
moved to the Barak Valley of Assam and the princely state of Tripura which
eventually joined India in 1949. Around 5 lakhs were also settled in other
parts of India, including the East Pakistan Displaced Persons' Colony (EPDP) in
Delhi, subsequently renamed Chittaranjan Park and in Orissa. The estimated 5
lakhs Bengalis in Delhi and 3 lakhs in Mumbai are also largely East Bengali
refugees and their descendants.
Another major influx came in
1971 during the Bangladesh Liberation War. It is estimated that around 1 Crore
refugees entered India during the early months of the war, of whom 15 lakhs may have stayed back after Bangladesh became
independent.
We will look into Indo-Pakistani
conflict which was sparked by the Bangladesh Liberation war later in this blog, before that we would like to bring in
front of our readers how these refugees were exploited by political parties
during those days.
The politics – ‘50s and ‘60s
The
refugees in ’50s were mostly from Caste Hindus. They were sure that they had no
future in East Pakistan and left for good, even that meant residing in a
thatched hut on a marshy land parting the huge farm house in East Pakistan. Their
desperation for a good living in this new land made the refugee movement slowly
more violent. The Communists used this anger to take control of this movement. A very detailed
description of events have been documented by the historian Prafulla Chakraborti. The
Left leadership could channelize the movement to their ‘anti-imperialistic’
goal, suppressing the mayhems of Islamic rule in East Pakistan. So the United
Central Refugee Council (UCRC) processions started to raise slogans totally unrelated
to refugee problem, like the slogan against Imperialism in Korea or slogan for
peace not war and against Anglo-American imperialism!! Not only that, one
UCRC convention in 1952 adopted a list of resolutions which included:
‘vii) Exploitation of the country by foreign powers and
discrimination against Russia and China in the field of international trade
must be ended
vii) Equipment should be imported from Russia for the
improvement of indigenous heavy industries.’
The
Left-influenced refugee movement not only suppressed the continuous harassment
of the Hindus in East Pakistan, they even went ahead in support of Pakistan. On
18 October 1952, UCRC meeting at Wellington Square condemned Shyama Prasad Mookherjee
for demanding sanctions against Pakistan.On 7 April 1953, UCRC held a big
demonstration and presented a charter of demands to the West Bengal Legislative
Assembly. Significantly it had one of the demands as ‘Rehabilitation of
displaced Muslims and grant of interim relief to them’, but no mention of
refugees themselves for safely returning to East Pakistan in accordance with
Nehru-Liaquat Pact!! The betrayal of the upper caste refugees about their own
people in East Pakistan ensured the future illegal migration and continuous
flow of today’s refugees, who are mostly what is considered as Scheduled Castes
by Indian Constitution. This caste difference sealed the fate of the Hindu
refugees for later years, an expression of upper caste Hindu leadership in
Left, right and centre and their indifference.
West Bengal accepted
the fate of Hindus in East Pakistan as normal. Throughout 60’s and 70’s, the
political scenario in West Bengal was a race towards a communist revolution.
The politically conscious people of different left stands were busy in engaging
in violent actions against class enemies to bring revolution. The leftists
slowly have conquered the total intellectual gamut of Bengali Hindus. The
situations of the Hindus in East Pakistan never became any issue of debate
amongst left, nobody mentioned that even after massive migration of the Hindu
refugees in West Bengal.
The left
influence on the Bengali Hindu mind was always strong. It has attracted Bengali
youth from the days of the IPTA (Indian People’s Theatre Association). By 60’s
the West Bengal intellectual world was overwhelmed by leftist ideas. The ’68
student rebellion in France, Vietnam War and Cold war between United States and
Soviet Union, made the socialist liberation a dream for the youth in the world.
Communist Party of India’s prominence (much due to refugee power), the
revolutionary zeal of Naxalite movement and the support of the writers,
academics, film directors, musicians to all these political movements - all
practically turned West Bengal in a leftist state without the state power.
Bangladesh
Liberation War
Bangladesh Liberation war, a fight between the habitually overriding
West Pakistanis and the
majority East Pakistanis. The Bangladesh Liberation war kindledjust after
the 1970 Pakistani election, in which the East Pakistani Awami League won 167
of 169 seats in East Pakistan and secured a simple majority in the 313-seat
lower house of the Majlis-e-Shoora – The Parliament of Pakistan. Awami League
leader Sheikh MujiburRahman, popularly known as Bangabandhu(বঙ্গবন্ধু) presented the Six Points to the President of
Pakistan and claimed the right to form the government. Leader of the Pakistan
Peoples Party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, refused to return the premiership of Pakistan to Mujibur, President Yahya
Khan called the military, dominated by West Pakistanis, to suppress dissent in
East Pakistan.
Mass arrests of dissidents began,
and attempts were made to disarm East Pakistani soldiers and police. After
several days of strikes and non-co-operation movements, the Pakistani military
cracked down on Dhaka on the night of 25 March 1971. The Awami League was banished,
and many members fled into exile in India. Mujib was arrested on the night of
25–26 March 1971 at about 1:30 am (as per Radio Pakistan's news on 29 March
1971) and taken to West Pakistan. The next action carried out was Operation
Searchlight, an attempt to kill the intellectual elite of the east.
Pakistan army carried out
genocide for nine months. R. J. Rummel , the
researcher on killings by the state authorities, described a chilling gendercidal
ritual, similar to Nazi procedure towards Jewish Males:
“In what became
province-wide acts of genocide, Hindus were sought out and killed on the spot.
As a matter of course, soldiers would check males for the obligatedcircumcision
among Moslems. If circumcised, they might live; if not, sure death.“
Approximately 1 Crore people fled East Pakistan
and took refuge in the neighbouring Indian states.The
East Pakistan-India border was opened to allow refugees safe shelter in India.
The governments of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura established
refugee camps along the border. The resulting flood of impoverished East
Pakistani refugees placed an unbearable strain on India's already overburdened
economy.
India- Pakistan
War 1971
By November 1971,
war seemed inevitable. Throughout November, thousands of people led by West
Pakistani politicians marched in Lahore and across West Pakistan, calling for Pakistan
to Crush India. India responded by starting a massive buildup of Indian forces
on the border with East Pakistan. The Indian military waited until December,
when the drier ground would make for easier operations and Himalayan passes
would be closed by snow, preventing any Chinese intervention. On 23
November, Yahya Khan declared a state of emergency in all of Pakistan and told
his people to prepare for war.
On the evening of
3 December Sunday, at about 5:40 pm, the Pakistani Air Force (PAF) launched a
pre-emptive strikewith not more than 50 planes, on eleven airfields in
north-western India, including Agra, which was 300 miles (480 km) from the
border. This preemptive strike known as Operation Chengiz Khan.At the
time of this attack the TajMahal was camouflaged with a forest of twigs and
leaves and draped with burlap because its marble glowed like a white beacon in
the moonlight.
Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi held that the air strikes were a declaration of war against India,
in an address to the nation on radio that same evening.
Indian Air Force responded with initial air strikes that very night. These air
strikes were expanded to massive retaliatory air strikes the next morning and
thereafter.
This marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistani
War of 1971. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the immediate mobilisation of
troops and launched a full-scale invasion. This involved Indian forces
in a massive coordinated air, sea, and land assault. Indian Air Force started
flying sorties against Pakistan from midnight. The main Indian objective on the
western front was to prevent Pakistan from entering Indian soil. There was
no Indian intention of conducting any major offensive into West Pakistan.
The Indian government repeatedly appealed to the international
community, but failing to draw any response,the Indian leadership under Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi quickly decided that it was more effective to end the
East Pakistan genocide by taking armed action against Pakistan than to simply
give refuge to those who made it across to refugee camps.Exiled East Pakistan
army officers and members of the Indian Intelligence immediately started using
these camps for recruitment and training of MuktiBahini guerrillas.
Pakistan attacked at
several places along India's western border with Pakistan, but the Indian army
successfully held their positions. The Indian Army quickly responded to the
Pakistan Army's movements in the west and made some initial gains, including
capturing around 5,795 square miles (15,010 sq.km) of Pakistan territory. Land
gained by India in Pakistani Kashmir, Pakistani Punjab and Sindh sectors was
later ceded in the Simla Agreement of 1972, as a gesture of goodwill.
T-55 tank in 1971 war
On the eastern front, the Indian Army joined
forces with the MuktiBahini to form the MitroBahini
(Allied forces); the strategy adopted was a
swift, three-pronged assault of nine infantry divisions with attached armoured
units and close air support that rapidly converged on Dhaka, the capital of
East Pakistan.Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, who commanded the eighth,
twenty-third, and fifty-seventh divisions, led the Indian thrust into East
Pakistan. As these forces attacked Pakistani formations, the Indian Air Force
rapidly destroyed the small air contingent in East Pakistan and put the Dhaka
airfield out of commission. In the meantime, the Indian Navy effectively
blockaded East Pakistan.
The Indian campaign employed
"blitzkrieg" techniques, exploiting weakness in the enemy's positions
and bypassing opposition, and resulted in a swift victory. Faced with
insurmountable losses, the Pakistani military capitulated in less than a
fortnight. On 16 December, the Pakistani forces stationed in East Pakistan
surrendered.Lasting just 13 days, it is considered to be one of the shortest
wars in history.
On the brink of defeat around 14 December, the
Pakistani Army, and its local collaborators(রাজাকার), systematically killed a large number of Bengali doctors,
teachers and intellectuals, part of a pogramme against the Hindu minorities who
constituted the majority of urban educated intellectuals. Young men, especially
students, who were seen as possible rebels were also targeted. The extent of
casualties in East Pakistan is not known. R.J. Rummel cites estimates ranging
from 10to 30 lakhs people killed. Other estimates place the death toll lower,
at 300,000. Bangladesh government figures state that Pakistani forces aided by
collaborators killed 30 lakhspeople, raped 200,000 women and displaced millions
of others.
Bangladesh became an independent nation, the
world's fourth most populous Muslim state. MujiburRahman was released from a
West Pakistani prison, returning to Dhaka on 10 January 1972 and becoming the
first President of Bangladesh and later its Prime Minister.
In 2010 Bangladesh government set up a tribunal
to prosecute the people involved in alleged war crimes and those who
collaborated with Pakistan. According to the Government, the defendants would
be charged with crimes against humanity, genocide, murder, rape and arson.
Taking a cue to which Shahbag Protest began on 5th February 2013 and later spread to
other parts of Bangladesh.
After so much turmoil in a society within the
period from 1947 to 1971, there are nearly no books, films or literature on
this subject of forced migration of such a large number of people. There have
been only stories and films made on the misery of refugee lives but never
mentioning who made them refugees. Celebrated film maker Ritwik Ghatak’s films
are its best examples. Its not that the refugees have forgotten their past,
rather they flaunt their link with East Bengal ceremoniously.
There is a famous football club named ‘East
Bengal’ which is supported by the refugee youth and old. There are many
societies in West Bengal named after different former districts of East Bengal
e.g Chattagram Sammilani (Chittagong Association), Mymensingh Sammilani, etc. They
organise different programmes but never they would touch upon any subject
related with happenings in East Pakistan or today’s Bangladesh. You may go to
any refugee organisation’s meeting, hear fiery lectures about the government’s
apathy about the refugees’ demands but never any discussion about their past or
the present situation of their own brothers and sisters in Bangladesh.
Understanding Illegal migration, Undeclared
Refugees and Infiltrators.
It is simply that whoever enters a country
without proper legal papers or reside without legal permission after entering
legally is an ‘illegal migrant’. There should be no ambiguity in that. How that
illegal migrant has to be treated is a different issue altogether.
A Refugee is defined in Article 1 of the 1951 UN
Convention as amended by the 1967
Protocol as:
“A person who
owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion,
nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is
outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is
unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not
having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual
residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is
unwilling to return to it..”
However India, Pakistan, Bangladesh are not
signatories to this convention or protocol. So by international law there have
never been any refugees in between these countries. The 2005 UN data shows that
in India there are 77200 refugees from China, 50730 from Sri Lanka, 9700 from Afghanistan,
1471 from Myanmar and 104 from Somalia. So UN keeps no data on the refugees of
the subcontinent. On 19 June 2007, a minority rights group Human Rights
Congress for Bangladesh Minorities has filed a writ petition at Calcutta High
Court on June 19th, 2007 appealing that Government of India should grant
Refugee status to Bangladesh Minorities, who took shelter in India to escape
violence in their country.
So the term refugee is considered here following
the definition of UN convention though India or Bangladesh is not a signatory.
By that definition the Hindus from Bangladesh are entitled to be considered as
‘Refugee’. Till 25 March 1971, the Hindus who crossed over to India from East
Pakistan were issued a receipt of their entry into the country. This receipt or
slip was the proof of their ‘refugee’ status and they were subsequently granted
citizenship of the country. These people are considered as legal refugees. Even
Government of India’s notes also refer them as ‘refugees’.
On 29 November 1971, Government of India through
its Under Secretary C.L.Goyal issued an Express letter No. 26011/16/71-10 to
the Chief Secretaries to all State Governments and Union Territories
Administrations. Its Subject: Grant of Indian Citizenship to refugees from East
Bengal who have crossed over to India after 25th March 1971. Instruction that
application from such refugees for Indian Citizenship should not be
entertained. According to the Sec 5.1 (a) of Citizenship Act 1955, persons of
Indian origin who are ordinarily resident in India and have been resident for
five years immediately before making an application for registration. The
refugees from East Pakistan naturally became Indian citizens afterwards.
The situation changed from 26th March, 1971, the
category of ‘Undeclared Refugees’ came into being.
So the ‘illegal migrants’ other than ‘the
undeclared refugees’ can be termed as ‘infiltrators’. By this definition infiltrator
is a Bangladeshi Muslim as others like Hindus, Christians, Buddhists or
Ahmedias can claim the status of a refugee due to religious persecution.
Though the provision of obtaining citizenship for
these undeclared refugees were stopped by a notice, it was thought to be a
temporary affair as there was still no legal bar from obtaining the
citizenship. The act has been amended seven times. Till 1986 anyone born in
India had the right to be an Indian citizen. Sons and daughters of the
‘undeclared refugees’ could therefore be Indian citizen. After 1986, only son
or daughter of an Indian citizen can be a citizen. So the refugees who entered
after 1986, not only they but their future sons and daughters are to be all
illegal migrants.
The scenario changed further after the passing of
Citizenship Act 2003. The Hindu Refugees from Bangladesh coming after 25 March
1971 was further restricted the chance of getting citizenship for this
undeclared refugees by stating that if the father or mother is an illegal
migrant, their son or daughter is also illegal migrant. So several millions of
undeclared refugees from Bangladesh have lost all hopes of citizenship
But West Bengal remained silent. West Bengal
politics was dominated by the communists till 2010 who utilised these refugees as
their Vote Bank and diverted the attention of these people to special issues of
‘Soviet Union (till 1991)’,’Cuba’, ‘Vietnam’, ‘Palestine’, ‘China’,
‘Anti-America’ and even to ‘Bird Flu’ and ‘HIV Aids’, but never touched such an
important issue. Present Trinamool Congress Government in West Bengal is
following the same path which was previously adopted by Communists with a
difference. They are continuing to exploit these refugees but the special
issues of communists are replaced with stories of development (উন্নয়ন)– Trident, Blue and White painting of walls and
building, Fairs and Festivals. But the issues of East Bengal Hindu refugees are
yet to get addressed.
Writer: Rajiv Chanda
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