Biharis faced reprisals from Mukti Bahini and Bengali militias[4][1] resulting in an estimated death toll ranging from 1,000[5] to 150,000.
[6][7] Within the context of the conflict in Bangladesh, the term "Bihari" implies the migrants predominantly from the Indian state of Bihar and West Bengal, who headed for then East Pakistan, after the partition of India in 1947.
[12] Researchers (such as Sumit Sen)[14] maintain that the Pakistani government's denationalization of the Biharis and reluctance to rehabilitate them in Pakistan are sufficient evidence of persecution to warrant refugee status.
The Biharis have also faced institutionalized discrimination linked to their citizenship status,[15] and many live in squalor in refugee camps.
Scholars such as R. J. Rummel and Matthew White estimate the total Bengali civilian death toll at 1.5 million.
[30] R. J. Rummel, a historian with the University of Hawaii,[24] gives a range of 50,000 to 500,000 Biharis killed and concludes at a prudent figure of 150,000 murdered by Bengalis overall.
"[31] Sarmila Bose in her book 2011 Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War argues that Bengalis are in a state of denial about the massacre.
[32][33][34] Ezaz Ahmed Chowdhury, a Bihari community leader said: Everyone talks about the killings of Bengalis (by the Pakistani army) in 1971.
In (northwestern) Santahar town alone, several thousand were killed in a matter of days[35]The Liberation War Museum of Bangladesh has downplayed such massacres, calling them "isolated incidents.
He organized a delegation, headed by British Labour Party politician David Ennals and Ben Whitaker, which encouraged many refugees to return to Pakistan.
[41] Organisations such as Refugees International have urged both governments to "grant citizenship to the hundreds of thousands of people who remain without effective nationality".
[42] On 19 May 2008, the Dhaka High Court approved citizenship and voting rights for about 150,000 refugees who were minors at the time of Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence.
Initially, 83,000 Biharis (58,000 former civil servants and military personnel), members of divided families and 25,000 hardship cases were evacuated to Pakistan.
[52] A special committee, the Rabita (Coordination) Trust Board, was formed by Pakistan President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq.
It received $14 million by 1992, and was requesting additional donations from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states for the rehabilitation of Biharis.
[59] During these clashes, nine people including eight members of a family were burnt alive by Awami League and their local Bengali supporters.
[62] In May 2003, a high court ruling in Bangladesh allowed ten Bihari refugees to obtain citizenship and voting rights.
[65] On 19 May 2008, the Dhaka High Court approved citizenship and voting rights for about 150,000 refugees who were minors at the time of Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence.