Origin and Socio-cultural Formation of Bihari Identity: A Study on Bihari Community in Bangladesh


Abstract views: 2673 / PDF downloads: 1097

Authors

  • Arifur Rahaman University of Dhaka
  • A K M Jamal Uddin Prof., Department of Sociology, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
  • Md. Shakhawat Hossain University of Dhaka

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46291/IJOSPERvol7iss4pp879-903

Keywords:

Biharis, Identity, Citizenship, Assimilation

Abstract

Bihari community has been living in Bangladesh since 1947, after being forced to migrate from various regions of India. Owing to religious differences, the Bihari community was expelled for communal riot from their homeland. Subsequently, they moved to their ideological home propagated by two-nation theory. Bangladesh joined Pakistan as federal state after partition which made Muslims of India, including the Biharis, thought that Bangladesh was also their ideological home. Having a distinct language and culture, the Bihari community could not be able to assimilate into the society of Bangladesh. They had to remain stranded and stuck in between two cultures outside of their home. However, they were given citizenship by the Government of Bangladesh, but still the debate of them being ‘others’ still on. This study aims to trace out the origin of the Bihari community in Bangladesh and to find out their current socio-cultural condition. To reveal their socio-cultural condition, this study used qualitative method. Primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews in two Bihari settlements (camps) at Dhaka city. This study suggests that Bihari identity has been very problematic and still debatable. Even after 70 years, many Biharis have retained their distinct socio-cultural practices, while other chose assimilation. Nevertheless, their deplorable condition has been intensified by abject poverty, social exclusion and lack of entitlements to services affecting their socio-cultural condition.

References

Alavi, H. (1975). India and the Colonial Mode of Production. Economic and Political Weekly, 10(33/35), 1235-1262. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/4537329

Ahmed, R. (1981). The Bengal Muslims 1871-1906: A quest for identity. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Ahsan, S. B. (2012, November 14). Our Pakistan question. The Daily Star. Retrieved 28 October, from https://www.thedailystar.net: https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-257354

Ahsan, S. (2020). When Mr Jinnah came to Dhaka. Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 8 August 2020, from https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2020/03/04/when-mr-jinnah-came-to-dhaka.

Bangladesh-India-Pakistan: Agreement on the Repatriation of Prisoners Of War and Civilian Internees. (1974, April 9). Delhi, India.Retrieved 26 December 2019, from https://casebook.icrc.org/case-study/bangladeshindiapakistan-1974-agreement.

Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices. Textbooks Collection. Book 3. Retrieved from http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3

Bhattacharjee, M. (2015). Social Exclusion of Bihari Community: A Sociological study on Bihari camp (Masters). University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Retrieved from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/dffe/cc820f64fe2ae2204a79b1649541ca72ac68.pdf

Biharis-Minority Rights Group. (2019). Retrieved 18 December 2019, from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/biharis/

British raj | Imperialism, Impact, History, & Facts. Retrieved 19 December 2019, from https: // www.britannica.com / event / British-raj

Chatterjee, B. (1973). Inside Bangladesh Today: An Eyewitness Account. New Delhi: S. Chand and Co. Limited, India.

Dalrymple, W. (2015). “The Mutual Genocide of Indian Partition”. The New Yorker Retrieved 5 December 2019, from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/29/the-great-divide-books-dalrymple

Das, B. (2011). Bihari migrants wish for better life in Bangladesh | DW | 22.06.2011. Retrieved 18 December 2019, from https://www.dw.com/en/bihari-migrants-wish-for-better-life-in-bangladesh/a-6554559

Erikson E (1970). Autobiographic Notes On The Identity Crisis. Massachusetts: The MIT Press. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/20023973.

Farzana, K. F. (2008). The Neglected Stateless Bihari Community in Bangladesh: Victims of Political and Diplomatic Onslaught. Journal of Humanities and Social Science.

Farzana, K. F. (2009). An Artificial Minority: The Stateless Biharis in Bangladesh. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 29(2), 223-235. doi:10.1080 / 13602000902943682

Faruqui, A. (2005, March 19). Jinnah's unfulfilled vision: The Idea of Pakistan by Stephen Cohen. Asia Times. Pakistan.

Ghoshl, A. (2018). The Invisible Refugees: Muslim ‘Returnees’ In East Pakistan (1947-71). Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (Hum.), Vol. 63(1), 2018, pp. 59-89

Gilmartin, D. (1998). Partition, Pakistan, and South Asian History: In Search of a Narrative. The Journal of Asian Studies. Vol. 57, No. 4, pp. 1068-1095.

Gosh, P. (2008). Who went where and how are they doing? Pakistanis and Indians outside South Asia. In: The Fleeing People of South Asia: Selections from Refugee Watch. London, New York, Delhi: Anthem Press, pp. 207-220.

Haque, M. S. (2013). Victim Diaspora – Ethnic Minority groups in South Asia: The Case of ‘Biharis’ and Rohingya. Journal of Politics & Administration. Vol.1, No.1, ISSN 2307-1036, pp. 68-78.

Haider, M. (2003). The Bihari Community from a Human Rights Perspective. In Rahman M. (ed.) A Community in Transition: The Biharis in Bangladesh (p. 133-207). Dhaka: Empowerment through Law of the Common People.

Haider, Z. (2016). Rejected people in Bangladesh: If the Biharis were counted. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. Volume: 36 (3), pp. 427-443.

Haider, Z. (2018). Biharis in Bangladesh and Their Restricted Access to Citizenship Rights. South Asia Research. DOI: 38. 10.1177/0262728018791695.

Hashmi, T. (1992). Pakistan As A Peasant Utopia: The Communalization Of Class Politics In East Bengal, 1920-1947. New York: Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429300905

Hashmi, T. (1998). The Bihari minorities in Bangladesh: Victims of nationalism. In M. Hasan, (ed.) Islam, communities, and nations: Muslim identities in South Asia and beyond. New Delhi: Manoher Publishers.

Hossain, A. (2012). Islamic Resurgence in Bangladesh’s Culture and Politics: Origins, Dynamics and Implications. Journal of Islamic Studies, Volume 23(2), pp. 165–198.

Ilias, Ahmed (2004). The Indian Émigrés in Bangladesh. Shamsul Huq Foundation, Rangpur, Bangladesh.

Jabeen, M., Chandio, A and Qasim, Z. (2010). Language Controversy: Impacts on National Politics and Secession of East Pakistan. South Asian Studies: A Research Journal of South Asian Studies, Vol. 25, No. 1, January-June 2010, pp.99-124

Karim, A. K. N. (1956). Changing society in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Dacca: Oxford Univ. Press.

Khan, A., & Samadder, M. (2007). Living Like Prisoner: Documenting the Experiences of Crime and Insecurity of. Research and Evaluation Division, BRAC.

Khalidi, O. (1998). From Torrent to Trickle: Indian Muslim Migration to Pakistan, 1947-97. Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Vol. 37(No. 3), pp. 339-352.

Malik, H. (2015). Stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh not Pakistan's responsibility, FO tells SC. The Express Tribune, Pakistan. Retrieved from htts://tribune.com.pk: https://tribune.com.pk/story/861364/stranded-pakistanis-in-bangladesh-not-pakistansh-responsibility-fo-tells-sc /

Mantoo, S. (2013). Bihari Refugees Stranded in Bangladesh Since 1971. Journal of South Asian Studies, 1(2), 123-129. Retrieved from https://esciencepress.net/journals/index.php/JSAS/article/view/246/208

Muquim, N. (2017). “Strangers to citizenship: an analysis of the deplorable conditions of the Urdu-speaking community in Bangladesh”, (Masters). The University Of British Columbia. Canada Retrived from: https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0343565

Nahar, S. (2000). Biharis in Bangladesh: Present Status, Legal Impediments and Solutions. In C.R. Abrar (Ed.), On the Margin: Refugees, Migrants and Minorities. pp. 173–83. Dhaka: Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit.

Nair, Niti (2010). The Partition of India by Ian Talbot and Gurharpal Singh, Journal of Islamic Studies, Volume 21, Issue 3, pp. 464–467, https://doi.org/10.1093/jis/etq049

NLJ Primary School - OBAT Helpers. (2019). Retrieved 18 December 2019, from https://obathelpers.org/nlj-primary-school/

Noor, S. (2005). Outstanding Issues between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Pakistan Horizon, Vol. 58, No. 1, 47-60. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/41394082

Paulsen, Eric. (2006). The Citizenship Status of the Urdu-speakers/Biharis in Bangladesh, Refugee Survey Quarterly, Volume 25, Issue 3, pp. 54–69, https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdi0146

Rabeya, S. & Hossain, M. (2017). Critique of ethnic nationalism in the teachings of Said Nursi: A study of nationalism and the question of Islam in Bangladeshi identity. IIUC Studies 14(2) DOI: https://doi.org/10.3329/iiucs.v14i2.39881

Rafferty, M., & Gilmer, A. (2010). Bangladesh's forgotten students: The Biharis struggle. The World. Retrieved 18 December 2019, from https://www.pri.org/stories/2010-07-17/bangladeshs-forgotten-students-biharis-struggle

Rahman, S. (2015). The Bangladesh Citizenship (Temporary Provisions) Order, 1972 (President's Order No. 149 of 1972). Chancery Law Chronicles. Retrieved 28 December 2019, from http://www.clcbd.org/document/891.html

Refugees, U. (2019). Refworld | “Bangladesh: Bringing education to the Bihari minority”. Retrieved 18 December 2019, from https://www.refworld.org/docid/4c7cbb2dc.html

Redclift, V. (2010). Conceiving collectivity: The Urdu-speaking Bihari minority and the absence of home. Diasporas: Revisiting and Discovering. Critical Issues series ‘Diasporas’. Inter- disciplinary Press, ISBN 978-1-84888-019-1.

Redclift, V. (2010) Subjectivity and Citizenship: intersections of Space, Ethnicity and Identity Among the Urdu-Speaking Minority in Bangladesh, Journal of International Migration and Integration, 25(12), pp. 25-42.

RMRRU. (2007). Accessing Rights as Citizen: The Camp Based Urdu Speaking Community in Bangladesh. RMRRU Policy Brief 2. Retrieved 18 December 2019, from http://www.rmmru.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/2-Biharis.pdf

Saikia, Y. (2004). Beyond the Archive of Silence: Narratives of Violence of the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh. History Workshop Journal, (58), 275-287. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/25472765

Salik, S. (1997). Witness to surrender. Karachi: Oxford University Press.

Sarantakos, S. (2005). Social Research. (3rd Edition). London: Macmillan International Higher Education. ISBN 1137292474, 9781137292476

Sattar, N. (2007). The rejected Biharis. Hydra 1(2) pp.13-24 http://journals.ed.ac.uk/hydra

Scott, G. (1990) A resynthesis of the primordial and circumstantial approaches to ethnic group solidarity: Towards an explanatory model. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 13:2, 147-171, DOI: 10.1080/01419870.1990.9993667

Sen, S. (1999). Stateless Refugees and the Right to Return: The Bihari Refugees of South Asia- Part 1, International Journal of Refugee Law, 11(4), pp. 626-645.

Sen, S. (2000) “Stateless Refugees and the Right to Return: The Bihari Refugees of South Asia”- Part 2’, International Journal of Refugee Law, 12(1), pp. 41-70.

Sen, A. (1975). “The Social Background and Social Character of Bangladesh Nationalism”. (Masters) McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Retrieved from: https:// macsphere.mcmaster.ca/bitstream/11375/7248/1/fulltext.pdf

Sen, Amartya. (2006). Identity & Violence. New York – London: Penguin Group. ISBN: 0670999210, 9780670999217, pp.18-39

Shadman, O., & Schönbauer, R. (2015). How a Bangladesh court ruling changed the lives of more than 300,000 stateless people. UNHCR. Retrieved 7 August 2020, from https://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2015/2/54ec22869/bangladesh-court-ruling-changed-lives-300000-stateless-people.html.

Siddiqi, D. M. (2013). “Left Behind By the Nation”: Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11157/sites-vol10iss2id253

Singh, H. (2011). Indian administration (1st Ed.). New Delhi: Pearson Education India.

Turner, B. (2006). Religion and Politics: Nationalism, Globalisation and Empire. Asian Journal of Social Science - ASIAN J SOC SCI. 34. 209-224. Doi: 10.1163/156853106777371175.

U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 2004 - Bangladesh. United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Retrieved September 7, 2019, from https://www.refworld.org/docid/40b459330.html

Wolpert, S. (1984). Jinnah of Pakistan. New York: Oxford University Press.

Downloads

Published

2020-12-23

How to Cite

Rahaman, A., Uddin, A. K. M. J. ., & Md. Shakhawat Hossain. (2020). Origin and Socio-cultural Formation of Bihari Identity: A Study on Bihari Community in Bangladesh . International Journal of Social, Political and Economic Research, 7(4), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.46291/IJOSPERvol7iss4pp879-903

Issue

Section

Articles