Sheikh Hasina

Dhaka, May 18 (Reuters): Bangladesh’s high court ruled today that the children of Urdu-speaking “Bihari” Muslims awaiting repatriation to Pakistan for over 37 years would be granted Bangladeshi citizenship.

“The children who were minors in 1971 or born after the independence of Bangladesh are citizens of Bangladesh,” the high court said in a ruling, over a petition by a group of Bihari Muslims pleading for Bangladeshi citizenship.

“They are also eligible to be enrolled as voters in Bangladesh,” said the ruling read out by lawyer Hafizur Rahman Khan.

With the ruling, nearly half of about 300,000 Biharis waiting for Pakistan to accept them may become lawful citizens of Bangladesh,” Khan said.

“They may also vote in the parliamentary election due in next December, he added.

The Urdu-speaking Muslims, who migrated to the former East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) from India following the partition in 1947, sided with the Pakistan army during Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence.

Home ministry officials said about 140,000 Biharis who were either born in Bangladesh or have expressed loyalty to the country would be granted citizenship.

The rest would continue to languish in Bangladesh refugee camps waiting for an agreement with Islamabad to take them to Pakistan.

Pakistan has avoided the issue over decades despite repeated requests by Bangladesh, leaving the Biharis in crammed, squalid camps in Dhaka and other towns, run by the UN high commissioner for refugees and the Bangladeshi government.

Hasina indicted

A Bangladesh court formally indicted detained former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today for graft over a power plant deal.

The anti-corruption commission filed the charges with the court in February, accusing Hasina of accepting 30 million taka (Rs 1.9 crore) in kickbacks in a power plant deal during her term in office between 1996-2001.