From correspondents in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 11:30 AM IST Bangladesh's Election Commission has moved to register the 160,000 Urdu-speaking 'stranded Pakistanis' in its revised electoral rolls, thereby allowing them to vote for the first time in the history of the country liberated from Pakistan in 1971. Also dubbed 'Biharis', since a bulk of them moved from India's Bihar province after the partition and creation of Pakistan in 1947, they were granted Bangladeshi citizenship through a high court verdict in May. In its verdict delivered May 18, a Bangladesh high court said they were citizens of this country by birth and were entitled to be registered in the electoral rolls as they had been residing in the country since before and after the country's independence, The Daily Star said Thursday. An estimated 300,000 non-Bengalis who...
[read full story]