Persecution of Biharis in Bangladesh

The Bihari minority in Bangladesh were allegedly subject to persecution during and after the Bangladesh War of Independence (a part of the Indo-Pakistani conflicts and the Cold War) (called the Civil War in Pakistan), allegedly experiencing widespread discrimination. They largely maintained a pro-Pakistani stance, supported the Pakistan Armed Forces and opposed the independence of Bangladesh and the Bengali language movement of the people of the then East Pakistan. Biharis faced reprisals from Bengali militias due to their involvement in killing and rape of civilian people. Many Biharis were collaborators or accomplices in the Pakistan army's 1971 Bangladesh genocide which stoked reprisal killings and anti-Bihari sentiment.

Within the context of the conflict in Bangladesh, the term "Bihari" implies the migrants predominantly from the Indian state of Bihar and West Bengal, who headed for then East Pakistan, after the partition of India in 1947. Later on, all Urdu-speaking people, even the Punjabis, Pathans, Sindhi and Baloch from West Pakistan, who were posted to East Pakistan or settled in the Eastern Wing were labeled as Biharis by Bengalis.

Bihari representatives claimed 500,000 Biharis were killed (although, according to available census data of that time, total non-Bengali population was approximately 1 million in Pakistan in 1970, majority were living in the then East Pakistan and approximately 300,000 left Bangladesh before and immediately after the Liberation War of Bangladesh to avoid reprisals due to their role in attacks on Muslim and Hindu Bengalis) while the Pakistani government's "white paper" and the US Consul estimated 64,000 and 66,000 deaths (respectively).

The Supreme Court of Bangladesh ruled Biharis eligible for Bangladesh citizenship in 1972. 500 chose repatriation to Pakistan. Some repatriation was implemented by the Red Cross over a number of years, but Government of Pakistan politically betrayed the Biharis by stepping away from their false promise of repatriation, and in 1978, the Pakistani government stripped Pakistanis remaining in Bangladesh of Pakistani citizenship. Researchers (such as Sumit Sen) maintain that the Pakistani government's denationalisation of the Biharis and reluctance to rehabilitate them in Pakistan are sufficient evidence of persecution to warrant refugee status. The Biharis have reportedly faced institutionalised discrimination linked to their citizenship status, and many live in squalor in refugee camps.