Partition of Identity: An exploration of Belonging in Bengalis in Pakistan, 1971- 2021

在1971年暴力解放战争之后，孟加拉国宣布从巴基斯坦独立，有一波移民从孟加拉国到经济更稳定的巴基斯坦。这些孟加拉移民通常定居在信德省，特别是卡拉奇，他们广泛参与了巴基斯坦的经济。根据1951年的《巴基斯坦公民法》，许多人被剥夺了公民权利，尽管他们在巴基斯坦出生的子女和孙辈对孟加拉国几乎没有直接的了解，但他们仍然没有官方文件。这可能会给日常活动（围绕教育、就业和健康）带来挑战，并强化他们不是更广泛的国家叙事所强调的“真正的”巴基斯坦公民的观念。最近，随着新一届民选政府的到来，给予社区充分权利的势头正在形成。此外，2021年将是孟加拉国建国50周年，我们的项目正处于关键时期。我们的研究分三个阶段进行，总体而言，我们的目标是调查这些孟加拉移民的身份和贡献在社区内是如何被理解的，以及自1971年以来，他们是如何被更广泛的巴基斯坦国家叙事所理解的。此外，我们的目标是了解这两种说法如何相互影响。没有此组的现有记录。通过与我们的受访者和艺术合作伙伴共同制作关于身份、行动主义、移民记忆和归属感的新历史，我们将确保巴基斯坦孟加拉人的声音被记录和听到。我们的样本将是多样化的，包括不同年龄和社会经济背景的巴基斯坦孟加拉男性、女性和年轻人。我们的项目将：-改变学术界和公众对缺乏公民身份如何影响社会认同和归属感的理解，并在巴基斯坦的孟加拉人中，特别是在年轻人中激发抵抗。这将通过创建这个小组的书面和口头记录，任何人都可以阅读或收听。-扩大对少数群体的社会表现如何影响其在发展中国家的待遇和社会地位的理解-通过一系列项目成果，提高对巴基斯坦孟加拉少数群体的认识，了解其文化遗产和对巴基斯坦的社会经济贡献。该项目将与英国和巴基斯坦的一系列合作伙伴一起开展。这些机构包括：伦敦大学学院（PI的所在地）、拉合尔管理科学大学（Co-I的所在地）、巴基斯坦公民档案馆、国家艺术学院、拉合尔学生会和巴基斯坦教育与劳动研究所。我们的合作伙伴将不同程度地参与这三个研究阶段。在第一阶段，我们会策略性地搜寻历史、政策及媒体文件，以了解香港社会。这将为第二阶段和第三阶段的采访和档案收集工作提供信息。它还将提供有关更广泛的国家和媒体代表该群体的信息。第二阶段将包括对48名成年人和30名年轻人进行口述历史访谈和档案整理。我们也会为青少年举办艺术工作坊。在这里，我们将收集关于自我的社区代表的信息。在第三阶段，艺术家和音乐家将重新构想国家代表和社区代表，以社区为基础产生新的产出。到项目结束时，我们将创造和发展一个新的口述历史档案，基于研究的艺术和音乐，一部纪录片，一个网站，在线展览，博物馆展览，两个输出活动，媒体文章，3篇期刊文章和合编的书籍。最重要的是，我们将通过产生有关1971年移民巴基斯坦的孟加拉社区的重要新知识来推进这一领域，并确保他们的故事被讲述，他们的声音被听到。

Following the violent Liberation War of 1971 in which Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan, there was a wave of migration from Bangladesh to the more economically stable Pakistan. Often settling in Sindh province, particularly Karachi, these Bengali migrants have participated widely in the Pakistani economy. Many have been refused citizenship rights in line with the Pakistan Citizenship Act of 1951 and despite their Pakistan-born children and grandchildren having little direct knowledge of Bangladesh, they remain without official documentation. This can create challenges in everyday activities (around education, employment and health) and strengthen the idea that they are not 'true' Pakistani citizens as emphasised by a wider state narrative. Recently, with the arrival of a newly elected government, momentum has been building towards granting the community full rights. Moreover, with the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's creation in 2021 drawing ever closer, our project comes at a critical time.Our research takes place in 3 phases and overall, we aim to investigate how the identities and contributions of these Bengali migrants are understood within the community, and how they have they been understood by a wider Pakistani state narrative since 1971. Furthermore, we aim to understand how these two accounts influence each other.No existing record of this group exists. By co-producing a new history of identity, activism, migration memory and belonging with our interviewees and arts partners, we will ensure that the voices of Pakistani Bengalis are recorded and heard. Our sample will be diverse including Pakistani Bengali men, women and young people of different ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Our project will: - transform academic and public understandings of how lack of citizenship influences social identity and sense of belonging, and stimulates resistance, among Bengalis in Pakistan, particularly in young people. This will be through creating written and aural records from this group, accessible for anyone to read or listen to. - expand understandings of how social representations of minority groups can influence their treatment and social positioning in the developing world- enhance awareness of the Pakistani Bengali minority group in terms of its cultural heritage and socio-economic contribution to Pakistan through the range of project outputsThe project will be conducted with a series of partners based in the UK and Pakistan. These include: UCL, Where the PI is based, Lahore University of Management Science, where the Co-I is based, the Citizens Archive of Pakistan, National College of Arts, Lahore Students Union and Pakistan Institute for Education and Labour Research. Our partners will be involved to differing degrees in the 3 research phases. In Phase 1 we will conduct a strategic search through historical, policy and media documents for depiction of the community. This will inform the interview and archival elicitation work in Phases 2 and 3. It will also give information on wider state and media representation of this group. Phase 2 will involve oral history interviews and archival elicitation with 48 adults and 30 young people. We will also conduct art workshops with young people. Here we will gather information on community representation of self. In Phase 3, artists and musicians will re-imagine both state representation and also community representations to produce new outputs based on the community. By the end of the project, we will have created and developed a new oral history archive, art and music based on the research, a documentary, a website, online exhibition, museum exhibition, two output events, media articles, 3 journal articles and co-edited book. Most importantly, we will advance the field by generating important new knowledge regarding the Bengali community in Pakistan following their migration in 1971 and ensure that their stories are told and voices are heard.