1. A group of 325 Bihari Muslims arrived in
Pakistan on Sunday, starting the resettlement
of refugees stranded when East Pakistan
became Bangladesh in the 1971 war.
Waving the green-and-white flag of Pakistan,
some of the Biharis wept as they got off the
chartered Russian IL-86 plane in this eastern
city, and knelt to kiss the ground. Others
shouted ″Long Live Pakistan 3/8″ and ″God Is
Great 3/8″
Foreign Ministry spokesman Khalid Salim said
their arrival was the first phase in the return of
230,000 Biharis, who have been living in more
than 60 filthy, disease-ridden refugee camps
across Bangladesh.
Pakistani officials say it could take years before
the airlift is completed.
The Biharis are descendents of Indian Muslims
who moved to East Pakistan when the
subcontinent was partitioned in 1947.
In December 1971, after a 17-day war, East
Pakistan declared independence from West
Pakistan and named itself Bangladesh.
