SC unhappy over delays in case about Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh
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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court took exception on Wednesday to failure of the Foreign Office and the cabinet division to answer contentions raised in a 2009 petition seeking repatriation of around 237,000 Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim took up the petition moved by Advocate Rashidul Haq Qazi, representing the Stranded Pakistanis General Repatriation Committee and the Organisation for Repatriation of Stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh.
Also read: SC takes up petition on repatriation
The court ordered the ministries concerned to submit their comments on the petition within a week and warned that otherwise their secretaries would be called to explain the delay during the next hearing.
Deputy Attorney General Sohail Mahmood told the court that despite having been contacted several times both the FO and the cabinet division had failed to provide a reply, while the interior ministry had stated that the foreign ministry would be in a better position to respond to the contentions.
The interior ministry explained that under Section 16-A of the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951 all persons residing in those territories which before Dec 16, 1971 constituted the province of East Pakistan and were residing there since that day voluntarily or otherwise should cease to be citizens of Pakistan.
It said those who had not been repatriated before March 18, 1978, when the section was introduced, but whose repatriation had been agreed to by the government continued to be citizens of Pakistan under Clause iv of its Sub Section 1.
Cabinet Division Director Muhammad Aftab informed the court that a Bangladesh high court had declared stranded Pakistanis as citizens of Bangladesh in 2003 and that country’s supreme court had also ratified it.
The bench asked him to file written reply in this regard and adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.
Published in Dawn February 19th , 2015
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Comments (77) Closed
Feb 19, 2015 07:16am
For God sake bring those Pakistanis home, just bring them home.
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Feb 19, 2015 07:56am
To put it bluntly in a Punjabi dominated racist society this is the biggest black mark - less than 250,000 citizens whose only crime is that ethnically they are different have not been allowed to travel back to their country.
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Feb 19, 2015 07:58am
So much for the creation of Pakistan, after all we all were living the way we wanted. There was always some kind or other flare ups, and we have it more now But this has become an end less tragedy for all of us. We all are affected one way or other.Pleas God bless us with wisdom and understanding
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Feb 19, 2015 08:08am
Mr. Aftab please provide correct and up to date information to the court i.e. In 2003 a Bangladesh high court ruled that some 10 Biharis were entitled to citizenship and voting rights...In 2008 the High Court in Dhaka ruled that 150,000 Biharis, who were minors at the time of the war and those were born since the war could be given citizenship in Bangladesh and voting rights...the rest continue to live in the camps, run by the Bangladesh government and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees...Pakistan should urgently arrange for their repatriation because they are our brothers and sisters and needlessly languishing in miserable condition in the refugee camps...
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Feb 19, 2015 08:13am
These poor Pakistani has suffered a lot please facilitate their rehabilitation in Pakistan ASAP. Thank you very much.
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Feb 19, 2015 08:14am
Pakistan SC always "objects" and "take exceptions" instead of taking concrete actions. Feel pity for the people sometimes
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Feb 19, 2015 08:22am
Enough people came already, they were all given Pakistani nationality but still they formed their gangs and hijacked strategic city of Karachi. No thank you, no more please.
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Feb 19, 2015 08:35am
The tragic case of East Pakistan and stranded Pakistanis. Those who have paid supreme sacrifices of Pakistan are forced to live in abject conditions as second class citizens, because they are considered traitors to Bangladesh and loyal to Pakistan. It is shameful that the Cabinet Minister is arguing that these Pakistanis are actually citizens of Bangladesh.
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Feb 19, 2015 08:40am
It is an extremely disgraceful act not to allow the citizens of Pakistan to return to their own country. Two years ago, I have seen one camp in Mirpur near Dhaka and it was a shocking and painful experience to see these people living in sub-human conditions.
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Feb 19, 2015 08:42am
kashmir anyone
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Feb 19, 2015 08:49am
They are not accepted in Pakistan ,but Bengali , Burmese ,Afghani ,Chechens and Uzbak are open heartedly welcome . One word from Ayub Khan , They are not the Son of Soil .This is the only and only reason they are rotting in those camps .
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Feb 19, 2015 09:11am
Here is the problem.These so called pakistanis living in Bangla Desh may not ,actually,be of Pakistani origin but Beharis who voluntarily left Bihar state of India before december 1971 and settled down in erstwhile Pakistan provinces of Pakistan and have already been deprived of citizenship of India.These people have hard time adjusting to the new lifestyle of Bangla Desh after December 1971.These people are actually Bangla Deshis now.
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Feb 19, 2015 09:12am
Our love for Kashmiri's have no time for stranded Pakistanis since 1971... They lped our soldiers to fight against Mukti Bahini.
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Feb 19, 2015 09:13am
How can they claim to be Pakistanis? Just because they speak Urdu?
If Urdu is the criteria then the entire 200 Million Indian Muslims are also Pakistanis and should be accepted by Pakistan.
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Feb 19, 2015 09:30am
Please bring them home . Please. It has been over four decades they are waiting. Please have mercy on them.
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Feb 19, 2015 09:31am
@ram yes please
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Feb 19, 2015 09:31am
After 45 years they are still "Pakistanis"? This crying woman in the propaganda picture wasnt even born in 1971!
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Feb 19, 2015 09:32am
Please bring them home or at least give them an opportunity to come and live in Pakistan if they wish to do so.
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Feb 19, 2015 09:34am
@Kalandar there are kashmiri refugees in pakistan who have yet to be registered and are living as third class citizens in azad kashmir and punjab first we must register them
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Feb 19, 2015 09:34am
No resprct for citizens bt conscious about kashmiris ha ha
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Feb 19, 2015 09:42am
These people have nothing in common with Pakistanis and have never seen Pakistan. Most of them are born in Bangladesh and would probably have difficulty assimilating in Pakistan. They have been provided Bangladeshi citizenship and can even return to their origins in Bihar in India. There is no need for them to move thousands of miles to Pakistan. Pakistan should look after its own people before it worries about others.
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Feb 19, 2015 09:47am
I strongly believe Kashmir is more important than any other issues so before going to other issue first solve Kashmir issue.
Friendly neighbour.
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Feb 19, 2015 09:49am
These people will surely show their love for Pakistan way more than any Afghanis ever did, and they will not bring illegal guns or drugs with them. These people parents fought along with Pakistan army to save Pakistan, their interest lied with bengalis, but they put their interest behind, and put Pakistan interest infront. If anyone with capable capacity, please help them and bring home
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Feb 19, 2015 09:50am
If we can accommodate 3 million thankless Afghans for more than three decades, why can't we bring our own stranded brethren from Bangladesh?
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Feb 19, 2015 09:55am
Sadly Pakistan is bankrupt so how will they pay for the transport and housing of these 200k or so people? Besides Pakistan already has massive unemployment with 20% + of children constantly on the verge of starvation. It is very sad but there is probably no place for them in truth. This would of course not be true if wealthier Pakistanis all the sudden started to care about all these downtrodden folk. But this is Pakistan after all so dream on.
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Feb 19, 2015 10:09am
@ram
will be freed soon
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Feb 19, 2015 10:09am
The SC must avoid taking up controversial cases. This is a second generation of the people living in Bangladesh, and it is better that the Government of Pakistan uses all its political means to convince the Govt. of Bangladesh to take them as their own citizens, as Pakistan is already overburdened with population including Afghans, Bengalis, Burmese, Iranian, illegal Indians who still call themselves Mohajirs and etc., and all these people have illegally infiltrated to Sindh. We cannot bear more burden of illegal occupation.
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Feb 19, 2015 10:10am
They were our enablers and used to facilitate Pakistan armies. They should have been flown with the soldiers, just like USA air lifted the Vietnam civilians after the defeat. The defense and foreign affairs departments made a mistake by not evacuating these Pakistanis. RECTIFTY THE MISTAKE NOW.
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Feb 19, 2015 10:11am
@Azhar Hussain... The most important thing is to acknowledge that they are Pakistanis...it is the moral responsibility of the government to help any citizen in any part of the world... Citizenship rights is about making all Pakistanis feel they are part of one nation, one identity, under one umbrella they can feel proud of.But then again are we proud of....
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Feb 19, 2015 10:11am
Bring our people home.
For Gods sake there are 3m afghans here, 2m Bangladeshis, why can we bring our patriotic citizens home.
Pakistan Zindabad
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Feb 19, 2015 10:11am
Refugees twice in their lifetimes. Are there people in the world more unfortunate than the stranded Urdu-speaking people in Bangladesh?
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Feb 19, 2015 10:14am
@tarik it is not a question of repatriation of the citizens it is all about demography...it will change the balance of power in Sind..probable they will be settled in Sind...
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Feb 19, 2015 10:15am
@Prince Zalims don't grant mercy...
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Feb 19, 2015 10:24am
For God sake, do not discriminate, so what if they don't speak punjabi, sindi or blochi, they were Pakistani then and they are still Pakistani now.
Pakistani government should learn something from Isreal government who are inviting all jews move to Isreal from Erupe becuse of security thread. Shame on Pakistan Government so for who have done nothing to bring stranded Pakistani from Bangladesh.
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Feb 19, 2015 10:29am
They left everything for Pakistan and in return Pakistan left them
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Feb 19, 2015 10:34am
Bring our Pakistani brothers and sisters home already and close this sad sad chapter!!
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Feb 19, 2015 10:35am
@ram kashmir for Bangladesh. Hisab barabar.
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Feb 19, 2015 10:46am
India should make detailed posters and pamphlets about this case and distribute in Kashmir.
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Feb 19, 2015 10:54am
Pathetic ignorance in society, they are cosseting Kashmiris while no one cares about poor Pakistanis?
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Feb 19, 2015 11:15am
Poor people their only fault is their extreme love for Pakistan. Still today after so many years they are striving hard to come to Pakistan but who cares.
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Feb 19, 2015 11:28am
@indian : Their crocodile tears only for Kashmir not Kashmiris
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Feb 19, 2015 11:33am
pakistani government is itself resposible for this situation . if they are pakistani people then he should be rehabillitated in Pakistan. itis wohle resonsiblty of pakistna. .
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Feb 19, 2015 11:35am
@ram irrelevant!
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Feb 19, 2015 11:38am
@indian the Kashmiris have suffered longer but both are Pakistanis
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Feb 19, 2015 11:39am
@Zak sorry no relationship
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Feb 19, 2015 11:43am
Shame on our corrupt leaders. These are patriots who chose Pakistan as their future home, despite being under terrible duress and extreme circumstances. Generations down the road they still remain stranded, confined to camps, rotting away in limbo. This while our leaders busy themselves, taking turns plundering the country. Get back our fellow countrymen now if you have one iota of self respect.
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Feb 19, 2015 11:44am
Bring our brothers and sisters home. A request from a Punjabi speaking Pakistani.
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Feb 19, 2015 11:45am
@Zak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Bangladesh_genocide
Request you please read the above link.I Know it was never our business but dear you left no choice.As far as Kashmir is concerned its been more than 65 years of independence now for both of us now.but the world map shows kashmir an intigral part of India.
Request you please do some planning before again starting another Kargil.
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Feb 19, 2015 11:49am
It is indeed tragic that a country which can host millions of Afghan refugees and not collapse cannot afford to let a couple of hundred thousand Pakistanis of Bihari origin come to the country they have always been loyal to and suffered for.
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Feb 19, 2015 11:55am
If Supreme court of Pakistan gave a verdict on Return of Present Prime Minister of Pakistan from exile and brought him back to Pakistan then why does PAK-sc not apply it to stranded Pakistani passport holders in the world?
It does apply and sc should be challenged to apply it to retrospectively.
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Feb 19, 2015 12:00pm
They are Bangladesh not Pakistani since they opted it throughout since the partition of India. You may ad them if you can but let them live in their own country
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Feb 19, 2015 12:05pm
@Zak You forgot, you tried hard for Khalistan for bangladesh. but failed. You tried hard for Kargil for Siachen. But failed. You tried hard to send army persons disguise of Kabilee people but failed. Yes Try again now Kashmir for bangladesh. You know the result. utter failure.
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Feb 19, 2015 12:07pm
I am a Bangladeshi and seen first handed, the dire situation of stranded Pakistanis in different Genva camps. Because they are not citizen of Bangladesh, they can’t legally work, but they are however taking up small jobs, self employments, and small business by their own initiatives. The number of stranded Pakistani mention in this article is not right the actual number is about 1 million. Bangladesh is a small country which is only 1/5th of the size of Pakistan but has almost same population. Bangladesh is harboring another 1.5 Ruhingas ( Muslim refugees from Burma) as well.
In 2008 the Bangladesh High Court ruled that 150,000 Biharis, who were minors at the time of the 1971 war, could be given citizenship in Bangladesh and voting rights. The process is going on to gradually award Bangladeshi citizenship to those people but for the rest Pakistan should shoulder responsibility of getting them back. I believe most of the Pakistani people don’t know enough about this issue and hence it must be the responsibility of different human rights organizations, NGOs, citizen groups and most importantly media to bring this humanitarian crisis to public limelight so that people can exert pressure upon the government to do the right thing.
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Feb 19, 2015 12:08pm
My question. Why don't they learn Bangal and assimilate in Bangaladesh.
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Feb 19, 2015 12:09pm
I never knew pakistanis were in Bangladesh since 1971??? send all bengalis living in karachi to Bangladesh and get our pakistani people back in pakistan. politicians of pakistan are a serious joke!
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Feb 19, 2015 12:10pm
@ram ...kashmir is pakistan's already.
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Feb 19, 2015 12:18pm
@Varntvar we kashmiris already know about this issue since long & we consider it the mistake of bengalis who jilted the islamic nation & created their own ethnic bengali state. I think pakistani fed goverment should buy land for them & sttle them in form of small town.
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Feb 19, 2015 12:28pm
@JoJo define 'soon'!
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Feb 19, 2015 12:32pm
Too much love spent on Kashmiris and Palestinians, nothing left for actual Pakistanis. What's wrong Pakistan, these pakistanis are not fair enough for you?
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Feb 19, 2015 12:33pm
Would these poor souls still be left stranded like this,, if they were say, Punjabi or Sindhi speaking? Seems their only sin is they speak the wrong language.
Pakistani establishment has wronged these poor Pakistanis for decades. Its time to correct this injustice.
As for those suggesting controversial issues should not be touched. Dear sirs, this should not be a controversial issue to start with ! Its such a despicable shame that it is considered controversial ! The only controversy is these stranded Pakistanis speak the wrong language.
This racism affects the lives of 250k+ Pakistanis, forced to live in the worst imaginable circumstances ! For heavens sake have some sense of justice !
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Feb 19, 2015 12:34pm
There only crime is they are not sons of the soil without their help Pakistan army would not have survived for the number of days they survived. Although Bengalis offered them to side with them In return for perks but they decided to fight for Pakistan. We are hosting millions of afghans, Burmese, bangladeshis but can't bring our own citizens, what a shame
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Feb 19, 2015 12:34pm
These poor people face discrimination in Bangladesh, just as Hindus and Sikhs face discrimination in Pakistan.
The Pakistanis should be brought home from Bangladesh and
Pakistan should request India to accept Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan.
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Feb 19, 2015 12:39pm
@JoJo How soon is soon ? 60Plus years have passed by. waiting for another 60 ?
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Feb 19, 2015 12:40pm
@doniya which Kashmir are u talking about.. the state capital is in India srinagar. and the sumer capital Jammu as well is with India.
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Feb 19, 2015 12:52pm
@Kalandar
Waiting for Kashmir so that these stranded pakistanis can be repatriated their.
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Feb 19, 2015 01:17pm
@chanakya Two Nation theory in ruins.
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Feb 19, 2015 01:21pm
@Zak Keep dreaming.
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Feb 19, 2015 01:25pm
@doniya in your imagination- yes. it will always be there. with you.
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Feb 19, 2015 01:29pm
@Najib Hindus and Sikhs are always welcome in India. So are all persecuted people in Pakistan. When all the "unwanted" people have left Pakistan the violence will shift between the provinces - Baluch versus Sindhi versus Punjabi vesus Pakhtoons versus - endless. Maybe that will be happier times for Pakistan? You think??
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Feb 19, 2015 01:30pm
@Porter Coz they dies for you when whole bangal was against you they stand by you that was there crime,Karachi was a fishing village, easily forget that. Sindh was a part of bombey that your worth before.
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Feb 19, 2015 01:33pm
@AHMED How selfish of you to forget there sacrifice
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Feb 19, 2015 01:43pm
It is easy...very easy for Afghans and other nationals to come and settle in Pakistan and even obtain national identity cards. But those Pakistanis who have been stranded in BD for such a long time have apparently no way till our rulers show sympathy in the real sense of the word and decide to call them in . Will this ever happen ?
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Feb 19, 2015 03:45pm
@Shahid because they are darker and we would rather have 5 million illegal afghan drug dealers
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Feb 19, 2015 05:31pm
@Porter. Do you realize,, that by your very racist comment you are in fact negating the whole idea of Pakistan? and the whole idea of the two nation theory?
Pakistan was created for ALL Muslims of what at that time was one India. Pakistan movement was NOT a localized movement for creating a free country for the locals of what is now Pakistan.
If Pakistan were created only for Muslims in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber and Balochistan, then you would have the right to make this racist, arrogant, condescending statement, as if the local resident of Pakistan actually did the immigrants a favor by 'letting' them come in.
Pakistan was fought for and created by ALL (ok, minus some of the mullas, most) muslims of India. Muslims in parts of India that were never going to part of Pakistan, fought and died in its name. As such ALL muslims in India have the right to claim Pakistan citizenship. The moment you disallow this, you betray the reason for creation of Pakistan and its very existence.
Quaid-e-Azam did not fight only for Punjabis, Sindhis, Pathans and Balochs of India. He fought for Muslims of India.
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Feb 19, 2015 05:41pm
I praise supreme court for taking just and bold steps in reinstating the basic rights of citizenship of patriotic Pakistanis languishing in Bangladesh for 43 years. If any one does not accept them Pakistanis, he himself should no be called Pakistani.
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Feb 19, 2015 06:18pm
@Porter Any Pakistani can come to Karachi and live there and same way patriotic Pakistanis in Bangladesh has more right to live in Karachi or any where in Pakistan
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Feb 19, 2015 06:41pm
@Babay They did not opt to Bangladesh which was not existing in 1947 but they opted to Pakistan and tried their best to protect it in 1971. however they were persecuted and till todate they are suffering for their loyalty to Pakistan. There is no reason to deny their basic right to come and settle in Pakistan.
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