The Biharis in Bangladesh: Transition from Statelessness to Citizenship

This chapter sets out the historical background of the Biharis and their position in contemporary Bangladesh. Who are the Biharis? What is their historical background? How does their repatriation process work? What are the problems of their repatriation? What is their legal status in Bangladesh? What kinds of problems do they face? This chapter will deal with these questions. I argue in this chapter that the Biharis in Bangladesh are the products of the partition of India in the 1940s. They migrated to the former East Pakistan (Bangladesh) to avoid communal violence in India as well as to have a better future in Pakistan. Here I also argue that the Biharis remain unintegrated with the local Bengalis because of their separate culture and way of life. Many of them opposed the freedom struggles of the Bengalis in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s and supported the ruling elites of Pakistan to serve their own political and economic interests. After the birth of Bangladesh, virtually the Biharis became stateless, unwanted, and the targets of assaults. However, in 2008, the Bangladesh Supreme Court declared them citizens of Bangladesh which led to their transition from statelessness to citizenship.