5,000 Pakistanis on voter list in Saidpur

A large number of Pakistanis living outside the camps are also on the list, according to opposition political leaders and locals in different areas in Saidpur town.

The political leaders seeking anonymity alleged that stranded Pakistanis living in and outside the camps have enrolled themselves in the draft voter list by hiding their identity. This has been done at the behest of ruling 4-party alliance leaders to increase their vote bank, the opposition leaders alleged.

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Most of the Pakistanis who enrolled themselves in the voter list did so by claiming themselves as Bangladeshi citizen by birth. They cited a High Court verdict in this regard.

But sources at the district election office said that there was no official order from the Election Commission (EC) in Dhaka to enroll them in the voter list.

When contacted, District Election Officer Faridul Islam admitted that stranded Pakistanis have been enrolled but could not say the exact number as their names were not kept separately.

Asked, he said a group of stranded Pakistanis showed him a High Court verdict given in 2003. In the verdict, the court said stranded Pakistanis born after liberation of Bangladesh should be treated as Bangladeshi citizens with the right to be enrolled in voter list.

Asked about any order from the EC in this regard, he said declined to elaborate, saying, "This is official secrecy".

In 2003, 10 youths of stranded Pakistani families filed a writ petition with the High Court, praying that they should be recognised as Bangladesh citizens as they were born and brought up in Bangladesh and had never been to Pakistan.

In its verdict the court also ordered the EC to include the petitioners in voter list.

The HC verdict is being interpreted in different ways. One group says the court verdict is applicable to the 10 youths while the another group claims that the verdict has in fact established the right of all young stranded Pakistanis to be enlisted in voter list.

The Saidpur unit General Secretary of Stranded Pakistanis General Repatriation Committee (SPGRC), Riaz Akbar, criticised the enrollment of stranded Pakistanis in the draft voter list.

He said they protested the bid in February this year when the enrollment process began. "We are Pakistanis and would like to remain the same till death", he said while talking tot this correspondent.

He said his community does not want to be used in Bangladesh politics.

But Quiyum Khan, General Secretary of another organisation styled Stranded Pakistanis Youth Repatriation Committee (SPYRC) said that as they got court verdict to be the citizen of Bangladesh, its members should be on the voter list.

As per official records, about 60,000 stranded Pakistanis live in 22 'Geneva Camps' in Saidpur. But in reality, most of them are not confined in camps. They live in different parts of the town, doing different jobs.

Now, only about 3000 stranded Pakistani families with a population of around 20,000 live in the camps.

Election office sources said there are 1,52,564 voters in the draft voter list this year in Saidpur upazila, which was 1,28,669 in the last list prepared ahead of the 2001 parliamentary election.

A survey conducted by a group of local newsmen found that 30 per cent of voters in Saidpur upazila are Urdu speaking people and their number is over 40, 000.

BNP leader Amjad Hossain was elected from Saidpur constituency in the last parliamentary election.