118 Statelessness and citizenship also very sympathetic towards [the Muslim] refugees [from India], whom they absorbed as workers and executives in their business and commercial set-ups’.7 Many also came in search of economic opportunities and because of cultural ties.8 Some invested in industries such as jute, sugar and paper, owning their own factories and businesses. The Adamjee Jute Mill, built 20 kilometres south of Dhaka in Narayanganj in 1951 by the Adamjee Group of West Pakistan, was at one point the largest in Asia. Before closing in 2002, it reportedly employed thousands of Urdu-speakers.9 In addition to finding jobs in the railway department or police forces, Ilias recounts: Unlike the other refugee groups, Biharis were small businessmen, petty traders, and shopkeepers. Most of them . . . belonged to the working class and only a handful emerged as factory owners . . . . [T]hey penetrated into mills and factories as laborers, supervisors, and administrators of commercial firms and factories.10 Culturally and linguistically distinct from the majority Bengali Muslim population, the Urdu-speaking minority did not systematically learn Bangla (or Bengali), the predominant language favoured by political elites from East Pakistan. They settled in their own urban enclaves, such as in Mohammedpur and Mirpur in the Dhaka area. Ilias chided his own group during this period, stating that ‘they only thought about their economical interests disregarding the social and economic aspirations and hopes of the forty-two million Bengali Muslims and sufferings and agony of the Bengali Hindus’.11 Copyright © 2011. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE Beyond political and economic favouritism West Pakistani elites shared with the Urdu-speaking minority in East Pakistan, Bengalis were also stung by Pakistani Governor-General Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s declaration in 1948 that the national language of Pakistan, East and West, would be Urdu. Pakistan’s obstinacy on this issue stoked protests within the Bengali-speaking majority of East Pakistan, leading to the creation of the Language Movement, which advocated that Bengali be taught in schools and used in government relations. Following a series of mass protests in which several people were killed or beaten by police, the Bengali language was granted official status along with Urdu in 1956. The Language Movement helped form the basis for the Bengali nationalist Awami League’s call for greater autonomy. Other factors contributed to Bengali frustration with being part of Pakistan. Although East Pakistan Statelessness Citizenship118 : A Comparative Study on the Benefits of Nationality, edited by Brad K. Blitz, and Maureen Lynch, M2482 - BLITZand PRINT.indd 21/12/2010 11:56 Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/bham/detail.action?docID=655534. Created from bham on 2023-11-30 09:57:20.