that citizenship issue of the petitioners is to be resolved by the Government by
enacting legislation or otherwise.
-4Positive case of answering respondent is that the Urdu-speaking people
living in camps are not Bangladeshis citizens and therefore are not entitled to be
included in the voter list. Any such inclusion is illegal and liable to be struck down for
having been done, presumably, by suppressing the vital fact of their nationality. Any
instruction for not enrolling Non-Bangladeshi persons in the voter list is lawful.
It is further stated that voter list is prepared in accordance with provisions laid
down Electoral Roll Ordinance, 2007. Anybody whose name does not appear in the
list can move by way of an appeal the appropriate authority unless does not
disqualify to be a voter on legal ground. Officers responsible for preparing voter list
have to act in accordance with law and they cannot act upon request of the
petitioners. With regard to the judgment and order of Writ Petition No. 3831 of 2001,
it is also claimed that the solicitor office was instructed to Appellate Division.
Mr. Azim Khair Manna, learned Deputy Attorney General submitted that writ
petition on behalf of Urdu-speaking people who are living in 116 camps over the
country is not maintainable since they filed the writ petition without exhausting the
procedure for being voter in accordance with law.
He also submitted that the petition being enemy aliens or their progeny are not
entitled to be Bangladeshi citizens under section 4 (b) of the Bangladesh Citizenship
Act, 1951 and article 2B (1) (1) of PO No. 149 of 1972 in view of their loyalty to
Pakistan.
Before we proceed to consider the respective cases of the parties before us, we
must first mention that who when asked the solicitor office to move the Appellate
Division against the aforesaid judgment and order dated 05-05-03 of this Division
are missing in the affidavit sworn on behalf of respondent No.3, Secretary of the
Ministry of Home Affairs. The affidavit is also silent on the request vide letter dated
14-06-07 sent by the Chief Election Commissioner to the Chief Adviser for resolution
of the issue of enrolment of the Urdu-speaking people living in different camps of
Bangladesh, and if the letter did not attract any attention of the Government is also
missing.
In the letter dated 14-06-07 written by the Chief Election Commissioner to the
Chief Adviser his elucidated the condition, status and standing of Urdu-speaking
people. Neither the letter nor its contents was denied specifically in said affidavit of
respondent No. 3. We can therefore rely upon the letter in order to understand the
issue facing us.
In the letter, it is stated that immediate after the independence of Bangladesh,
two streams of Urdu-speaking people were to be found in Bangladesh. One group
known as the “Stranded Pakistanis” had sworn their allegiance to Pakistan and
wanted to go back to that country at any cost. The others, accepted the emerging