9. The Supreme Court decision of May 2008 applies to all members of the Urduspeaking community without discrimination. 17 Pursuant to existing domestic legislation, members of the Urdu-speaking community can apply for a National Identity Card at any time like any other Bangladeshi citizen. Failure to apply for a National Identity Card does not preclude the application of the Supreme Court ruling nor entail loss of citizenship and/or ensuing rights. Current status 10. In light of the May 2008 Supreme Court decision and subsequent implementing measures taken by the Government of Bangladesh, the Urdu-speaking community can no longer be viewed as stateless, as they are considered to be nationals of Bangladesh. 11. Despite the fact that pockets of Bangladeshi society resent the role that some Urdu speakers played in the 1971 Liberation War, many members of Urdu-speaking communities, including those in the open camps, are living alongside the Bengali community and speak Bengali. Urdu speakers living in extreme poverty are sometimes unable to access basic services, either because of the unavailability of such services in their area, or because they are unable to meet the necessary legal or administrative requirements applicable to all Bangladeshi nationals (for example, they may lack a valid address, which is required to acquire a passport); this is not, however, a problem unique to Urdu speakers in Bangladesh. 18 Although there may be instances where officials, particularly at the local level, would seek further guidance from their ministries on the effect and application of the 2008 Sadaqat Khan judgment before resolving a matter involving Urdu speakers, difficulties in accessing services do not denote a refusal to recognize Urdu speakers as nationals of Bangladesh. 17 18 United Kingdom Home Office, Country of Origin Information Report – Bangladesh, 25 September 2008, para. 4.72, available at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/48ede7992.html. The Stranded Pakistanis General Repatriation Committee (SPGRC) in Bangladesh, members of which have also registered as Bangladeshi voters, along with a few other small but vocal groups within the Urduspeaking community, are also known to issue identity documents and certificates (for a fee) claiming that an individual is a member of their organization, is a citizen of Pakistan, or is stateless. These documents are often presented by individuals making claims for asylum in other countries. However, such documents have no legal effect and are allegedly not issued exclusively to members of the Urduspeaking community. The Bangladesh Citizenship (Temporary Provisions) Order of 1972, above footnote 9, provides that anyone resident in Bangladesh as of 25 March 1971, who continues to reside there and who was (i) born there, (ii) whose father or grandfather was born there, or (iii) who is not otherwise disqualified from citizenship, is a citizen. See also Zaheria Shirazi, Urdu-speaking camp dwellers are moving out of the limbo, above footnote 14: “And it should not be assumed that only the young voters exercised their newly earned voting right. TV spots showed that elders including elderly women also voted.”); and Julfikar Ali Manik, Biharis embark on new era, above footnote 14: “Seventy-year-old Abdul Sattar, who voted twice before Bangladesh's birth in 1971, was among those lining up.” Urdu speakers living in open camps continue to receive free water and electricity from the State; in addition, at the time of drafting this note, some infrastructural improvements had commenced by the government and the UNDP programme addressing urban poverty in some of the Urdu-speaking areas. 5