Speakers, including Urdu-speaking communities residing in various camps in Bangladesh, on Monday demanded dignified and permanent rehabilitation.
They made the demand at a roundtable discussion titled Permanent Rehabilitation of Camp-Based Bihari Urdu Speaking Bangladeshi, organised by the Council of Minorities and Namati, USA at the Liberation War Museum in the capital.
The council鈥檚 chief executive, Khalid Hussain, delivered a presentation in which he highlighted that despite multiple announcements by previous governments, the rehabilitation of the community had yet to commence. 听
He presented documents showing that 34,000 acres of land had been reserved for the community by the then relief ministry to rehabilitate the Muslim Bengali and non-Bengali refugees coming from India in 1947.
He said, 鈥榃e believe 2,000 acres will be sufficient for the rehabilitation of the Urdu-speaking Bangladeshi community. We want to move out of the camps, otherwise, we are at risk of losing our heritage.鈥櫶�
He said that about 3,00,000 Urdu-speaking people reside in 116 camps across the country.
Addressing the event as the chief guest, chief adviser鈥檚 press secretary Shafiqul Alam stressed the need for embracing the Urdu-Bihari speaking identity, overcoming the culture of fear.
Shafiqul said, 鈥業njustice has been done to the community. It is now important to move towards transitional justice, which is a long process鈥�. 听
He also emphasised the importance of documenting the oral history of the community鈥檚 sufferings.
He called on the community to reclaim their language and revive their culture.
Rani Akter, a resident of Mirpur camp, described the harsh living conditions, where residents live in small, cramped 5-foot houses without private bathrooms and must rely on shared facilities outside..
鈥楾here is a lack of safety, and even NGOs are not allowed to work freely,鈥� she said.
Camp residents shared that they feared speaking their language might lead to exclusion from the mainstream.
They also said that they faced difficulties accessing their rights at various government offices due to their identity.
Association for Land Reform and Development executive director Shamsul Huda, lawyer Asaduzzam Fuaad, coordination and partnerships analyst at UN Women Bangladesh Syeda Samara Mortada and writer Parsa Sanjana Sajid also spoke at the event.
听