Whenever I read about the Biharis of Bangladesh, I notice where the story usually begins: 1971. I understand why. That year contains the terrible questions of loyalty, collaboration, killings and revenge. But beginning there produces a distorted picture. It turns an entire population into a problem created by a war. My family also came from Bihar. Perhaps that makes me more sensitive to the missing part of this history. The Urdu-speaking migrants of East Pakistan did not spend twenty-four years waiting for 1971 to happen. They worked. They raised families and entered professions. Many became part of the railways and … Continue reading The Biharis Were Not Outsiders to East Pakistan. They Helped Build It.