I AM over 95 years old. I joined the government of former East Pakistan in 1948 as an assistant engineer and continued working in service till I was taken as a prisoner of war on Dec16, 1971 and remained confined in an Indian POW camp at Meerut. Thereafter, I was repatriated to Pakistan in November 1973.

After my release and repatriation to Pakistan, in spite of all my efforts, I was not taken on any job and at the same time denied pension, although I had worked on a post equivalent to BPS20 in terms of pay scales of those days.

Over the years I made several representations for the grant of full pension. However this was finally allowed only as a compensatory pension with effect from April 24, 1995, instead of full pension for a retired civil servant in BSP 20 on presumptive basis.

I was told that the government of Imran Khan is committed to justice and fairplay. I applied at the Citizen’s Portal and have been told that after the emergence of Bangladesh, it was the liability of the Bangladesh government to pay pension to the pensioners. Only a compensatory payment has been allowed and the pension has been revised from Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000 only

There are only a handful of pensioners from former East Pakistan and the remaining will be gone within a few years. Is it fair to say that these employees are the liability of former East Pakistan? It is therefore prayed that my case along with other pensioners may be studied and justice be done.

I be granted full pension from 1971 since the break-up of the country and my eventual repatriation to West Pakistan with my family were beyond my control rendering my 25 years of service without any adequate compensation.

Aftab Mohammad Khan

Retired Director Urban Development

Govt of East Pakistan

Karachi

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2020