Seeing the amount of pure hatred and racism towards Biharis today, it reminded me of the forgotten plight of Bihari Muhajir Muslims and their persecution all across South Asia but mainly in Bangladesh during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war. 

The magnitude of anti-Bihari attacks by Bengalis throughout the 1971 war are contested. Bengali sources admit the death of as many as 30,000 or 40,000 non-Bengalis. According to a white paper released by the Pakistani government, the Awami League killed 64,000 Biharis and West Pakistanis.R. J. Rummel, a historian with the University of Hawaii, gives a range of 50,000 to 500,000 Biharis killed and concludes at a prudent figure of 150,000 murdered by Bengalis overall. International estimates vary from 20,000 to 200,000. In June 1971, Bihari representatives put forward a figure of 500,000 Biharis killed by Bengalis.

Ishrat Ferdousi, a researcher on 1971 atrocities, said attacks on Biharis can be termed “genocide." Sarmila Bose in her book 2011 Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War argues that Bengalis are in a state of denial about the massacre. Bose's claims are not accepted by Bangladeshi historians. 

Due to their initial pro-Pakistan stance, the Biharis were consistent in their wish to be repatriated to Pakistan. Initially, 83,000 Biharis (58,000 former civil servants and military personnel), members of divided families and 25,000 hardship cases were evacuated to Pakistan. By 1974, 108,000 had been transferred to Pakistan (mainly by air); by 1981, about 163,000. Both countries have signed agreements on the repatriation of stateless people, but only a few hundred reportedly managed to go to Pakistan. Under the supervision of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees over 119,000 Biharis were airlifted to Pakistan. By 1982, Pakistan had received 169,000 Biharis. Some Biharis also entered Pakistan through illegal means. According to the UNHCR report 170,000 Biharis were repatriated after the second Delhi Agreement. In 1977, 4,790 families were repatriated; 2,800 in 1979; 7,000 in 1981; 6,000 in 1984; and 50 families in 1993. A total of approximately 178,069 Biharis were repatriated to Pakistan between 1973 and 1993.

In 1988, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) raised about $500 million for the repatriation and rehabilitation of Biharis to Pakistan. A special committee, the Rabita (Coordination) Trust Board, was formed by Pakistan President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. It received $14 million by 1992, and was requesting additional donations from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states for the rehabilitation of Biharis. Land allocated to Biharis in Pakistan in one colony in Mian Channu is now a slum. The Biharis were targeted by the ethnic Sindhi people during the 1980s Karachi riots.

Although many Biharis have assimilated into the Bengali population of Bangladesh, some opt to migrate to Pakistan and are relocated to refugee camps across Bangladesh. According to one estimate, at least 250,000 Biharis are still in Bangladesh urban refugee camps. The camps have become slums, the largest of which (known as "Geneva Camp", with over 25,000 people) is crowded and undeveloped; families up to 10 people typically live in a single room, one latrine is shared by 90 families and no more than five percent of the population has a formal education. Due to the lack of educational opportunity and poor living conditions, young men in the slums have set up an Urdu Bhashi Jubo Chhatro Shongothon (Urdu-Speaking Young Students Association) to increase educational opportunities in their community. Health and sanitation problems persist due to poor drainage and sewage systems, and the economic condition of Bihari refugees has been described in news reports and academic journals as extremely poor. 

The forgotten plight of Bihari Muhajir Muslims.