Walking through the narrow alleys of her neighborhood in central Karachi, Salma, 36, shows around some houses and small businesses that belong to her acquaintances and relatives from the Bengali community in the heart of Karachi. Queues of people outside small convenience stores and makeshift shops catch the eye as you enter Zia Colony in Gulshan-e-Iqbal where a great number of Bengalis reside.
Reportedly, around three million Bengalis live in Pakistan (economictimes.indiatimes.com). The largest settlement is in Machhar Colony, a slum in Karachi with nearly 800,000 people, out of which, according to a report by Imkaan Welfare Organisation, at least 63 percent are Bengali-speaking and Burmese.
Salma, who prefers to be called by her first name, works as a cook and a housemaid in affluent houses in the city to support her husband in raising their five children. She earns Rs14,000, which is less than 50 USD a month.
“My life has been spent in poverty cleaning people’s homes,” Salma says, sharing aspirations for her children to study in reputable educational institutions and make successful careers for themselves. “I do not want my kids to live like me.”
“My eldest daughter, 18, wants to pursue media sciences, but we cannot afford that kind of education for her,” she shares while showing samples of art done by her younger daughter who has a talent for art and creativity.
Women from lower economic backgrounds, including ethnic minority groups such as the Bengali-speaking community, bear financial and social repercussions for being poor. They face discrimination for being Bengalis, and in the absence of proper national documentation, remain confined to menial labor jobs.
Ethnic Bengali women, mainly settled in Karachi, mostly work as domestic help and have been hit hard by economic turmoil in Pakistan.
A 2016 UN Women’s report reveals that women are reported to be doing more unpaid care and domestic work than men in South Asia. “Ten times as much in Pakistan; almost 7 times more in India; and nearly 3 times more in Bangladesh.” Meanwhile, Global Gender Gap Report 2023 by World Economic Forum ranks Pakistan at number 7 in the South Asian region on gender parity, which is just above Iran and Afghanistan. According to the report, Pakistan, which is among the worst performers, was ranked 142 among 146 countries.
Noreen Nur Muhammad, 27, who is also an ethnic Bengali living in the colony, says her problems are exacerbated by inflation and discrimination. Divorced after just a few months of marriage, Muhammad works as a housemaid to make ends meet. She currently lives with her mother and has a 7-year-old child who she raises as a single mother.
“The biggest concern for me these days is my son's future as he is growing up,” she shares. “I want to get him enrolled in a good school.” She explains that so far it has not been possible due to unaffordability and hindrances. “My monthly income goes into basic expenses and securing a school admission keeps getting delayed,” she laments. “I cannot pay school fees.”
On being asked why women from her community opt for working as domestic help, Muhammad says this is the “easiest way out” for them to make money as the profession is almost associated with lower-class Bengalis in Karachi.
“It is not easy for us to find other types of jobs,” she explains. “Seeing everyone in my family work as domestic help, I realised I could do the same and support my family.” For this kind of work, she only requires a verbal referral from her community people who already work as domestic help. With a word-of-mouth referral, eventually families hire these women as housemaids.
Muhammad has a penchant for teaching but does not feel qualified enough to work as a professional teacher in schools. She has studied till the 8th grade and likes to tutor the children in her locality when she has the time.
“This is something I like to do and from time to time I gather children and read storybooks to them,” she says, adding that lack of qualifications because of short-term schooling limits opportunities for her and several others in her community, and they are unable to secure better jobs.
For 42-year-old Najma Bibi, survival with a monthly income of Rs 12,000 or 40 USD is extremely difficult. Every day, she commutes by bus to other localities in the city to work in homes as domestic help.
“My husband is unemployed and not even able to find temporary work these days,” she says. “I cook and clean in Nazimabad and most of what I earn goes into rent.”
Najma Bibi’s four children go to a government school in Karachi where they get basic free education. But she is worried about her daughters’ future, who cannot study further as they do not have CNICs that are required to register for board exams.
“We need national registration to get our documents in place,” Bibi says, explaining that her children cannot go to school and get education to avail better work opportunities because Nadra has not issued her a CNIC despite the fact that she was born in Pakistan and has lived here all her life. “I want my daughters to study further, but it is not possible to enroll them for the 9th and 10th grade exams without a B-form, which they can only have if I get my CNIC.”
Without a CNIC, she cannot find a job other than that of a maidservant, while her daughters cannot sit for a 9th-grade board exam.
“I submitted my CNIC application form in 2018 and since then it is on hold,” she says. “Despite repeated inquiries, Nadra has not issued me one yet. They tell us to go to Bangladesh and the reason they discriminate is that they believe we are outsiders.”
Nadra’s public information official did not respond to multiple requests for a quote.
So along with poverty and a difficult life, ethnic Bengalis deal with the added dilemma of a citizenship crisis.
According to Sheikh Muhammad Siraj, the chairperson of Pakistan Bengali Action Committee who has been advocating for the rights of the Bengali community since 1993, Bengalis are commonly labeled as “aliens, refugees, and foreigners” and are deprived of their rights.
Najma Bibi says her parents’ graves are also in Pakistan, and she considers the country her home despite impediments and difficulties.
Poverty, but loyalty
Pakistan’s history has been marked by turbulent relations with the Bengali community. The political, economic, and social discrimination on a state level were vital factors in the liberation movement and the subsequent creation of an independent country in 1971 — Bangladesh.
Dr. Moonis Ahmar, Professor of International Relations and Former Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Karachi, says that even after 52 years of the emergence of the state of Bangladesh, Bengalis living in Pakistan face tremendous challenges from poverty to proving their loyalty to the state.
"Bengalis living in Pakistan encounter innumerable miseries like proving their loyalty to the state and difficulties in getting their CNICs,” he shares. “While the majority of Bengali-speaking people who were settled in Pakistan left for Bangladesh after 1971, some stayed back in Pakistan.”
Ahmar adds that during the late 1970s and 1980s, almost one million ethnic Bengalis from Bangladesh came to Pakistan for a better future and opportunities after crossing the Indian border, but to no avail as their conditions did not necessarily improve.
“Many [ethnic Bengalis] have returned to Bangladesh because of the serious economic crisis prevailing in Pakistan, and those who remain here are grappling with a crisis in identity," he says, adding that Pakistan’s struggle with economic collapse is also affecting its marginalised communities, including Bengalis, especially women and children.
Allia Bukhari is a freelance writer. All facts and information are the responsibility of the writer