Stranded Pakistanis seek citizenship

"Due to lack of citizenship around three lakh stranded Pakistanis are deprived of all basic rights and passing their days in an inhuman condition," SPYRM General Secretary Shahed Ali Bablu said this while he was addressing a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters' Unity auditorium.

Both the Pakistan and Bangladesh governments had hardly shown their interest in resolving the issue terming it as a ' political problem,' he said.

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Since 1972, the Bangladesh government could not create any pressure on the Pakistan government to send back stranded Pakistanis, he said.

"We have no identity and the lives of three generations of the stranded Pakistani have damaged as the issue of citizenship has remained unresolved for the last 32 years," Bablu added.

He said Pakistan did not give due attention to the issue and always avoided it terming it 'complex'.

Bangladesh government never recognised the stranded Pakistanis as citizen of the country since 1972 as our forefathers had given their options to be citizen of Pakistan, he added.

"Our forefathers wanted to be the citizens of Pakistan that does not mean that we cannot be the citizens of Bangladesh," Bablu said. "As the issue has remained unsettled for the last 32 years and we have been brought up in this country that's why we want to be the citizens of Bangladesh," he added.

"We cannot run any business through credit from banks as we have no permanent asset," he said.

Replying to a question, whether there is any legal bar to become citizen of Bangladesh, SPYRM advisor Mustak Ahmed said, "There is no legal bar rather it is the lack of political will on the part of both Bangladesh and Pakistan governments."

He said, there is not a single person in 66 camps who wants to return to Pakistan.

SPYRM President Mohammed Sadakat Khan and advisor Nasim Akther Malik were present.