Legal notice served over calling Urdu-speaking community living in Bangladesh 'stranded Pakistanis'
The legal notice highlights that the Urdu-speaking community has been legally recognised as Bangladeshi citizens through a landmark High Court judgment
A legal notice has been issued to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Secretary Md Jashim Uddin seeking an official clarification and immediate cessation of the term "stranded Pakistanis" to describe members of the Urdu-speaking community living in Bangladesh.
Advocate Abdullah Al Noman, a lawyer at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, served the notice on behalf of Mohammad Hasan, a resident of Geneva Camp in Mohammadpur, Dhaka.
This follows a reported statement by Md Jashim Uddin during the Bangladesh-Pakistan Foreign Office Consultation (FOC) held on 17 April 2025, where he allegedly referred to Urdu-speaking individuals as "Pakistani citizens stranded in Bangladesh" and urged their repatriation.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The legal notice highlights that the Urdu-speaking community has been legally recognised as Bangladeshi citizens through a landmark High Court judgment.
In that ruling, the court ordered their registration as voters and the issuance of national identity cards.
This legal recognition has since been reinforced under the Voters' List Act, 2009 and the National Identity Registration Act, 2010.
Advocate Noman asserts that labeling the entire Urdu-speaking community as "stranded Pakistanis" is factually inaccurate, discriminatory, and a violation of constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights, including equality before the law (Article 27), non-discrimination (Article 28), and the right to protection of law (Article 31).
The notice calls upon the Foreign Secretary to publicly clarify his remarks made at the FOC and refrain from using or suggesting the term "stranded Pakistanis" when referring to recognised Bangladeshi citizens from the Urdu-speaking community.
The notice warns that failure to meet these demands will lead to legal action under Article 102 of the Constitution before the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.
