Can anyone from Mian Channu confirm, what happened to these Biharis?
Stranded Pakistanis Come ‘Home’ After 21 Years
January 10, 1993
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) _ A group of
325 Bihari Muslims arrived in Pakistan on Sunday, starting the resettlement of refugees stranded when East Pakistan became Bangladesh in the 1971 war.
Waving the green-and-white flag of Pakistan, some of the Biharis wept as they got off the chartered Russian IL-86 plane in this eastern city, and knelt to kiss the ground. Others shouted ″Long Live Pakistan 3/8″ and ″God Is Great 3/8″
Foreign Ministry spokesman Khalid Salim said their arrival was the first phase in the return of 230,000 Biharis, who have been living in more than 60 filthy, disease-ridden refugee camps across Bangladesh.
Pakistani officials say it could take years before the airlift is completed.
The Biharis are descendents of Indian Muslims who moved to East Pakistan when the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947.
In December 1971, after a 17-day war, East Pakistan declared independence from West Pakistan and named itself Bangladesh.
At the time, nearly half a million Biharis in Bangladesh said they wanted to live in Pakistan. More than 175,000 were repatriated by the International Red Cross under the supervision of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees until 1974.
But successive Pakistani governments have shied away from repatriating the Biharis. Many Pakistanis fear the influx of Biharis will add to the ethnic tension that already exists in Pakistan, where five major ethnic groups seek equal status.
Higher unemployment and economic hard times also have fueled opposition to the repatriation.
During an official visit to Bangladesh last year, however, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif agreed to accept the Biharis if they agreed to settle in eastern Punjab Province, and if international agencies helped pay the bill.
The Saudi-based charity Rabita Al-Alam Al-Islami, or World Muslim Congress, has arranged to pay for the resettlement.
The Urdu-speaking Biharis will settle in the tiny village of Mian Channu, about 120 miles from Lahore. The government has built dozens of new homes for them, Salim said, and has promised a monthly stipend to each family.
https://apnews.com/59177b57acbd693192191071378add4f