JEDDAH — Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) recently hosted a function at Salt & Pepper restaurant here to mark the 140th birth anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan. The meeting was presided by Saudi intellectual, writer and ex-diplomat Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi. Other guests included Shahid Nayeem, president, Amir Mohammad Khan, chairman, Jamil Rathore, general secretary, and Liaqat Anjum, member, of Pakistan Journalists Forum (PJF); Choudhry Rizwan, president, and Riaz Ghumman, general secretary of Pakistan Media Group (PMG), and community leaders Mohammad Ashfaque Badayouni, Shamsuddin Altaf, Mohammad Amanatullah, Zamurrad Khan Saifi, Tariq Mahmoud, Akram Agha and Khaled Jawed. The function started with the recitation of the Holy Qur'an by Qari Mohammad Asif. A Naat glorifying the Prophet (peace be upon him0 was presented by Sher Afzal. Welcoming the guests, Deputy Convener of PRC Hamid-ul-Islam Khan reiterated PRC's view that without "repatriation of Stranded Pakistanis and affiliation of Kashmir", Pakistan will not be "complete." Al-Ghamdi said Jinnah was a great visionary and charismatic leader of Indian subcontinent who succeeded in creating Pakistan, which many an analyst was not expecting to happen. Initially Jinnah was part of the Indian National Congress and worked for the cause of a united India after freedom from British occupation. However, when he realized that Mohandas Gandhi and his fellow leaders of Congress were not willing to give Muslims their due share in governing the country, then he left the Congress party and joined the Muslim League after persuasion of Allama Iqbal and other Muslim leaders. Al-Ghamdi quoted US historian Stanley Hedley who wrote about Jinnah: "Few individuals significantly changed the course of history, fewer still modify the map of the world and hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Muhammad Ali Jinnah did all those three." Al-Ghamdi said if Pakistanis had adhered to his mission and message "Unity, Faith and Discipline" then Pakistan would have acquired much stronger position in the global arena than what it has now. "I urge all Pakistanis to adhere to Quaid's mission and message to achieve the goal of Pakistan's creation," he said. He said Quaid's Pakistan was mutilated in 1971 when its eastern wing became Bangladesh. "Those Muslims of Bihar migrated in 1947 to East Pakistan for the sake of creating an Islamic welfare state, not a secular Bengali state. A quarter million of those patriotic Pakistanis are sill languishing in camps in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, Pakistani governments never fulfilled their obligations toward them, that is to renew their Pakistani citizenship which they held in 1971 when they fought alongside the Pakistan army and were captivated after losing the war," Al-Ghamdi said. "lf Quaid-e-Azam were still alive, he would not been happy to see those patriotic Pakistanis humiliated and persecuted," he added. He appealed to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to arrange their repatriation at the earliest. He also appealed to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to treat them humanely. He said PRC's proposal of self-financing resettlement could be implemented to expedite repatriation and rehabilitation without burdening Pakistan's economy. He also demanded a plebiscite in Kashmir as per the UN resolution. Amir Mohammad Khan said, "We have totally forgotten the message of Quaid-e-Azam and other founding fathers as if we founded Pakistan without any objective." He criticized media for highlighting leaders who talk against Pakistan's ideology on the one hand while on the other hand ignoring a quarter million patriotic Pakistanis languishing in Bangladesh for 45 years, which he described as "very unfortunate". He said everyone should try to follow Quaid's message on individual and collective capacity to make Pakistan truly a welfare state. Choudhry Riaz Ghumman thanked the PRC for holding the program and specially praised Al- Ghamdi for his persistent support to the causes of Kashmir and stranded Pakistanis. He paid rich tribute to the nation's founder and said all national issues could be resolved if adhered to the teachings of Quaid-e-Azam. He appealed to Pakistani journalists, poets, writers, politicians and members of communities to support the PRC's slogan that "Pakistan will not be complete until stranded Pakistanis are repatriated and Kashmir is joined with Kashmir". He demanded urgent action for the repatriation of all stranded Pakistanis. Convener Syed Ehsan-ul-Haque thanked Al-Ghamdi and all the guests. He presented a number of resolutions, which were approved by the audience. The meeting prayed for the late Majeed Nizami who created the Nawai Waqt fund for stranded Pakistanis. It also praised the IDB, MWL, IIROSA, OBAT Helpers and MWDO for their efforts in alleviating the miseries of stranded Pakistanis. The meeting urged Eidhi Trust and welfare wings belonging to MQM, Jamaat-e-Islami, Tehrike Insaaf, PML and PPP to start welfare activities for stranded Pakistanis in Bangladeshi camps. Ashfaq Badayouni, Tayyab Mosani, Shamsuddin Altaf, Amanatullah, Tariq Mahmoud and Agha Akram also paid rich tribute to Quaid-e-Azam.
