Ali Al-Ghamdi addresses the Pakistan Repatriation Council symposium in Jeddah recently. — SG photo by Syed Mussarat Khalil Syed Mussarat Khalil Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) held a symposium in Jeddah recently to discuss ways and means to repatriate Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh following the end of the war in 1971. The event was held to mark the 41st anniversary of the ending of the war. Opening the symposium, deputy convener of the PRC, Hamid Islam Khan, highlighted the difficult situation in which the Pakistani army worked during the 1971 war. However, following the war, several Pakistanis were lodged in concentration camps. Khan said: “It is our obligation to bring them back to Pakistan without further delay.” Chief Guest Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi, a noted Saudi writer, said the war was an unforgettable event in history. He said: “The victims of that war are those quarter of a million patriotic Pakistanis who sided with the army and are suffering in inhumane conditions since the creation of Bangladesh. “I had seen their pathetic condition; they are living without proper living facilities in camps.” He also criticized the establishment of a war crime tribunal to try those who sided with Pakistan during the 1971 war. He said: “The Bangladesh government should not still be pursuing such cases after 40 years in such an unjust manner.” Shahid Naeem, president of the Pakistan Journalists Forum (PJF), urged the Pakistani government to establish a high-level committee to handle the issue of Pakistanis still stranded in Bangladesh.
