Bengali Report - Bengalee Association Bihar

SECTION III
BENGALI REFUGEES FROM EAST PAKISTAN (BANGLADESH)
At the time of independence in 1947, India was divided into two countries, Pakistan
being carved out of it. In the process, two provinces, Punjab and Bengal, were also
divided, Hindu-dominated areas falling in India, and those dominated by Muslims
forming part of Pakistan. The process was particularly painful, since it implied
displacement of a large number of families in both Punjab and Bengal. For those
Hindu Bengalis who had to leave East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), the government
had to undertake a massive rehabilitation programme. Since not all of them could
be accommodated in West Bengal, they were moved to areas like Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh, Andaman-Nicobar Islands, etc. In Bihar, they were settled mostly in old
Champaran district (now dividend into two districts), but some of them were also
settled in north-eastern districts of Purnea and Katihar. Unaware as they were of
local conditions and local language, the process of rehabilitation was a long one for
many of them, and even now these refugee Bengali population face some serious
problems. This section is focused on this refugee Bengali population settled in
Bihar.
Domicile Status
Earlier, it was mentioned that the Bengali population in Bihar is largely a
heterogeneous category, comprising several sub-categories, based largely on their
mode and time of arrival in Bihar. Broadly speaking, these sub-categories are— (a)
original domicile of Bihar, (b) those who came as refugees and were rehabilitated
by the government, (c) those who came as refugees, but were not rehabilitated, and
(d) those who migrated to Bihgar on their own, either before or after independence.
The distribution of the sample households among these four important groups is
presented in Table 18. Since the survey had a large sample from West Champaran,
no less then two-thirds (67.7 percent) of the households are refugee Bengali
27