Syed Mussarat Khalil Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — On the occasion of the 42nd anniversary of the fall of Dhaka, Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) held a symposium “Repatriation of stranded Pakistanis our national obligation” at Kababish restaurant recently. Guests at the event were Shahid Nayeem, president of Pakistan Journalists Forum; Qutaibah Aziz, correspondent of Akhbariah news; Syed Qamar Shah, Engineers Welfare Forum; Dr. Tanweer Zaman, World Muslim Congress; Mohammad Moizuddin, Mahmood Akhter, Ghazanfar Hassan, Khalid Jawed. The symposium was presided over by renowned scholar and ex-diplomat Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi. Al-Ghamdi said that fall of Dhaka is not only a sad day for Pakistan but for the whole Muslim world, and it is an unforgettable event of our history. “Unfortunately the victim of this event are those patriotic Pakistanis who sided with the army to safeguard Pakistan's solidarity and integrity. However with the creation of Bangladesh they were persecuted and thrown out of their houses and shifted to camps. When I was in Bangladesh on diplomatic job I visited the Geneva camp where leader of stranded Pakistani Naseem Khan was on hunger strike, and noticed their miserable condition without basic amenities and living facilities.” He offered to go with PRC delegation to meet Prime minister Nawaz Sharif or any other authority to revive the Rabita Trust to solve the issue. Aziz Ahmed, secretary general of Pakistan Engineers Society, said that 16th December event is black day of our history and it is also tragic that patriotic Pakistanis are still languishing in concentrated camps in Bangladesh. He urged the prime minister to organize their repatriation without further delay. Tayyab Moosani, secretary general of Pakistan Memon Association, said that all parties and association should support PRC's struggle and develop a joint memorandum to government to press for solving the issue of stranded Pakistanis on top priority. Convener Syed Ehsanul Haque thanked Al-Ghamdi and all the other speakers on participating in the symposium. He said that while Pakistan denies giving stranded Pakistanis right of citizenship, Bangladesh acts harshly and does not extend basic human treatment. Community leaders Mohammad Ashfaque Badayouni, Shaikh Mohammad Luqman, Mohammad Amanatullah, Tariq Mahmood also spoke at the symposium and supported the repatriation and rehabilitation of the stranded Pakistanis as per the agenda of Rabita Trust. Hamid Islam Khan spoke about the support that the patriotic Pakistanis extended to Pakistan's army in the 1971 war. Renowned poets Naseem Sehar, Sher Afzal, and Zamurrad Khan Saifi, presented poems on martyrs of East Pakistan. Recitation of a few verses from the Qur'an was made by Abdul Majeed who also made a supplication for those who sacrificed their lives in 1971 war to protect the integrity and solidarity of Pakistan. A Naat was presented by Sher Afzal. Following resolutions were approved by the audience: • We urge Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to reactivate the Rabita Trust (frozen in October 2001 ) and restart the process of repatriation and rehabilitation which was stopped in his last tenure 1993 and 1997. To overcome the paucity of fund, we suggest to implement PRC proposal of settlement of stranded Pakistanis on self-finance basis. Bangladesh should also play its role in solving the issue. • Pakistani High Commissioner at Dhaka should be assigned to take care of food, health, life and security of quarter million Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh. OIC should include in its agenda the issue of settlement of stranded Pakistanis. • We praise Nawai Waqt Fund for stranded Pakistanis which has extended major financial contribution to alleviate their miseries. We urge charitable organizations like Eidhi Trust, Khidmate Khalq, Al-Khidmat and others to extend the welfare to those oppressed Pakistanis to help them survive.
