DHAKA, 6 September 2007 — In a major decision, the interim government has decided to consider inclusion of 140,000 Urdu speaking people who were born in Bangladesh and showed allegiance to the country, in the voter list if the Law Ministry gives approval.
Home Ministry sources said the decision on inclusion of Urdu speaking Biharis in the voter list was taken at an inter-ministerial meeting in Dhaka yesterday. Additional Secretary of the Home Ministry Mohammed Mohsin presided over the meeting.
Around 300,000 Urdu-speaking people are living in Bangladesh. Among them, about 160,000, who are called stranded Pakistanis, are living in 116 camps and they want to go back to Pakistan.
The meeting decided to consider positively about the Urdu speaking people, who were born after Bangladesh’s independence and those, who were 10 to 18 years old before the liberation war in 1971 and showed loyalty to Bangladesh, a Home Ministry official said.
The meeting’s proposal will be sent to the Law Ministry for examining legal aspects of the matter.
“If the Law Ministry gives approval, the Biharis might be included in the voters’ list except stranded Pakistanis who want to leave Bangladesh,” the official added.
