REMEMBERING THE JOURNEY – Rohail Khan Reflects on 10 Years of OBAT’s Impact

In May 2014, I joined Mr. Anwar Khan at a symposium arranged in his honor by PRC Jeddah. The symposium, “The Role of Welfare Organizations in Supporting Stranded Pakistanis” opened a discussion about the plight of 1.2 million Stranded Pakistanis who were living in deplorable conditions at various relief camps throughout Bangladesh.
THE HISTORY
History has on records that the Urdu-speaking communities, soon after partition in August 1947, arrived in several waves and settled across the then East Pakistan. Representing the well-educated middle class, they played an instrumental role towards the socio-economic development of East Pakistan from 1947 till 1971. In 1971, the Bangladesh Liberation War broke out between Bengali guerrillas and the Pakistani Government.
The Urdu-speaking community naturally favored Pakistan, viewing the Bengali struggle as an illegitimate rebellion. During the nine-month-long Bangladesh Liberation War they acted as local supporters of the Pakistan Army and made volunteer groups like Al-Badr and Al-Shams. With covert and later overt support from India, East Pakistan finally fell and became the independent state of Bangladesh.
Not sharing the ethno-linguistic heritage of the Bengali people, who formed an overwhelming majority, over half a million Urdu-speaking community became stranded after the independence of Bangladesh and were relocated to refugee camps, where their third generation descendants have since been born.
OBAT’S ROLE
Though over 12,000 nonprofits were working across Bangladesh at the time, very few were actually serving this vulnerable population. However, OBAT Helpers had already been providing frontline relief for ten consecutive years in the camps through educational programs, self-empowerment initiatives, and health & community development projects.
To date, they had an impeccable track record in managing more than 43 educational programs (7 elementary and middle schools, 3 computer centers, 4 tuition centers, 20 preschools, and 10 educational centers for working children and women.) Additionally, there were two clinics, set up by OBAT Helpers, serving thousands of people around the clock.
RECOGNITION
To commemorate OBAT’s tenth anniversary, Anwar Khan was decorated with Ajrak and Memento by the Society for International Peace, and declared a “role model, actively engaged in capacity building” of the Stranded Pakistanis.
It was an emotional and inspiring evening and I am so grateful to have been able to play a role in recognizing OBAT’s tremendous work at this special event.