Do the displaced Hindu Bengalis deserve refugee status? According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), ‘refugee status may be granted to people who have been persecuted on the ground of race, religion, civil disturbances or political upheaval.’ The 1950 Statute, Articles 35 and 36, 1951 Convention, and Article II of 1967 Protocol of UNHRC provide important guidelines for determination of refugee status. All these provisions at the same time offer a universal code for the treatment of refugees uprooted from their countries as a result of persecution, violent conflict, serious human rights violations or other forms of serious harm. According to Amnesty International, ‘a refugee is a person who has fled from his own country due to serious breach and abuses of human rights and forced to seek refuge or protection.’ The Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) says, ‘any one has the right to seek and get asylum in other countries from persecution.’ There are presently 5 crore refugees around the world, according to UNHCR. Among them, the plight of displaced Hindu Bengalis is of deep concern, the UNHCR report says.

Census Year	Muslim Percentage	Hindu
1941	70.3	28.0
1951	76.9	22.0
1961	80.4	18.5
1974	85.4	13.5
1981	86.7	12.1
1991	88.3	10.5
2001	89.7	9.2
2011	90.4	8.5

 

Seen and considered against the Convention and Protocol of UNHRC as well as the provision of UDHR, the continuing violence upon Hindu Bengalis in Bangladesh since 1946 (Noakhali-Chandpur), 1950, 1964 and 1971 (East Pakistan), 1992, 2001 and 2014 (Bangladesh) by radical and fanatical elements bring out the plight of the Hindus and other minorities of the country. Instead of repeating the cycle of known pattern of persecution as of the past, the post poll violence of 2014 in Bangladesh once again brought out the wide dimension of atrocities on Hindus. They have been subjected to humiliation, intimidation, loot, torture, killing, abduction and even outrage to the modesty of women in order to create a situation that makes their life difficult and leads to eventual eviction.

In the wake of the demand from Shahbag movement for execution of the frontline and other leaders of Jamat-e-Islam, Delwar Hossain Sayeedi and Abdul Quader Molla among others, for their war crimes during the liberation war of 1971 and following it, Hindus were once again the target of brutal and inhuman attacks. bdnews24.com, Prathom Alo, The Daily Star and Dhaka Tribune came out with tell-tale of tortures with heart-rending photographs of the victims of violence, evoking national and international condemnation.

“As the NDA Government is committed to protect the Hindu Bengalis displaced from Bangladesh, the Cabinet decision will come as a great boost to enact appropriate legislation in the Parliament”

Besides, grabbing of their lands have been a regular feature for which Hindus have to suffer huge loss of business and property and undergo mental trauma. A research study carried out by Prof. Abdul Barkat of Dhaka University has shown that during the 6 years rule (2001-2006) of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) alone, under Begum Khaleda Zia, around 2 lakh Hindus have been dispossessed of their 40,000 acres of land and about 40,000 houses. All the political parties including Awami League, police and the hoodlums joined hands in this anti Hindu operation, the study says as compiled in his book “Deprivation of Affected Million Families: Living with Vested Property in Bangladesh.”

All this persecution and dispossession has resulted in a gradual decline of Hindu population in Bangladesh, an indicator of their unsafe and insecure state as well as displacement from their hearths and homes. This is clear from The Statistical YearBook of Bangladesh 2011.

Alongwith that, the population of Christians and Buddhists have declined abnormally between 1941 and 2011. Apart from shelter and protection under the specific guidelines of UNHRC, the displaced Bengali Hindu people need legal protection in the country of their immigration, India. This had been provided to the displaced people migrating from Pakistan between 2004 and 2007 and settling in parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan by an amendment of the Citizenship rules, 2004, in the Parliament. This facilitated grant of Indian Citizenship to such displaced people. In Pakistan, Hindu population has come down to just mere 1 percent from 13 percent in 1941.

Relevant to say, Article 6 of the Indian Constitution and the special provision for migrants from East Pakistan and present Bangladesh made in the Assam Accord of 1985 are clear about the problem of persecution and discrimination against Indians in that country. There can be no dispute about the fair and adequate humanitarian provisions in our Constitution for the persecuted minorities in Bangladesh who include Hindus, Buddhists and Christians. Significantly, Hindus who had to flee from East Pakistan constitute the majority in Tripura today and run the government there. Immigrant laws in democratic countries of the world do not have any provision of giving asylum to illegal migrants. Sadly enough, refugees and infiltrators are seen as one and the same by some political parties in our country for their vote-bank politics. Among them, Congress is on the frontline.

It is a positive development that a Civil Writ Petition No. 243/2012 under Article 32 of the Constitution of India was filed by the NGOs Swajan and Bimolangshu Roy Foundation in the Apex Court on May 11, 2012, as petitioners and the Union of India and the State of Assam as respondents for granting refugee status to the displaced Hindus and citizenship to them. The Writ Petition is pending before the Supreme Court of India. With the scrapping of Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act of 1983 which was designed more to protect the illegal migrants than their detection and deportation, by the Supreme Court, it is expected that the Apex Court will come out with a favourable judgement on the Civil Writ Petition, facilitating the passage of a Bill in the Parliament. This may also revive the possibility of Immigrants Expulsion (from Assam) Act of 1950 which has specific provisions in its Section 2 to provide protection to the displaced Hindus forced to leave Bangladesh due to civil disturbances or fear of such disturbances manifesting in their religious persecution.

Also, the Assam Cabinet decision to grant asylum or refugee status to the people who have to flee due to religious persecution and discrimination in their country and seek shelter in Assam and to not treat them as foreigners on humanitarian grounds is also a positive development. Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister, said the Centre has been moved by the decision of the State Cabinet. This belated sympathy and concern of the Chief Minister for refugees has been welcomed by the political parties and organizations fighting for the cause. As the NDA Government is committed to protect the Hindu Bengalis displaced from Bangladesh, the Cabinet decision will come as a great boost to enact appropriate legislation in the Parliament.

Alongwith that, Tarun Gogoi government on its part has to ensure the passage of Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam), Act of 1950, to put a hold on deportation of the displaced persons, immediate release of those in detention camps and grant of citizenship under the Citizenship(Amendment) Rules of 2004. After the analysis of all the facts, the onus of protecting the displaced Hindus, Christians and Buddhists as well rests on Narendra Modi Government and  on whether it will keep its words. One hopes, it will.

Jyoti Lal Chowdhury