Pakistanis celebrated the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Pakistan Resolution or the Lahore Resolution as the National Day of the country. On 23 March 1940, leaders of the Muslim League approved the historic resolution demanding the establishment of an independent nation for Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. Until that day, negotiations revolved around keeping the subcontinent united and giving more political and constitutional rights to Muslims. However, Hindu leaders did not accept the demands of Muslims under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah at the negotiation table. This eventually culminated in the formation of a common approach among the attendees at the annual conference of the Muslim League at Lahore and the historic decision for the creation of Pakistan. The celebrations organized by Pakistanis this year to mark this historic moment were quite different from those held in the previous years. For the first time, military parades with an impressive show of ground, air and naval forces, including missiles carrying nuclear warheads were held to mark the occasion. Pakistani diplomatic missions abroad also joined the celebrations, in addition to Pakistani students who staged marvelous performances, mesmerizing their audience. A Kashmiri woman activist, Asiya Indrabi, was in the media limelight for unfurling the flag of Pakistan at her house and sing Pakistan's national anthem. She had to pay a big price for it as the Indian government detained her and booked her on charges of treason. The Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) recently organized a symposium in Jeddah to mark the 75th anniversary of the Pakistan Resolution. Several prominent figures from the Pakistani community attended the function in which several speeches were delivered and poems glorifying the Pakistan Resolution were recited to mark the great occasion. The speakers highlighted the historic significance of the Lahore Resolution, and commended the role of the PRC especially with regard to taking up the issue of the Pakistanis who have been stranded in Bangladesh since the secession of East Pakistan in 1971. These people made great sacrifices to see Pakistan remained united and they stood by the Pakistan Army during the Liberation War. When they lost the war and the creation of the new state of Bangladesh became a reality, these people were the biggest losers. Subsequently, they were driven out of their homes and forced to live in crowded squalid camps where they were denied even the basic requirements of life. The only demand of these stranded Pakistanis is to be repatriated to Pakistan, the country that they have chosen to live in and for which they have made many sacrifices. There have been several promises and efforts for their repatriation and rehabilitation but none of them have materialized. President Gen. Zia ul Haq strove to establish an endowment in cooperation with the Makkah-based Muslim World League. But unfortunately this Rabita endowment was frozen following the sudden demise of Gen. Zia. Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif revived efforts to activate the endowment during his last two tenures. Hence, everyone has great hope that Sharif will do something significant for the repatriation and rehabilitation of the stranded Pakistanis during his current third term in office. While addressing the recent function in Jeddah, I praised the commendable efforts being made by the PRC in serving Pakistan and Pakistanis in general and the stranded Pakistanis in particular. I reminded the audience of the significance of the occasion of celebrating the historic decision to create Pakistan as an independent state for the Muslims of the subcontinent. The historic decision was preceded and succeeded by a bitter struggle and great sacrifices by Muslims in all parts of the subcontinent. I also drew attention to the historic role of Muhammad Asad in the creation and evolution of Pakistan. Asad was a renowned writer, journalist, thinker, linguist, social critic, political theorist, traveler, diplomat, translator and Islamic scholar. Leopold Weiss was a Jew who adopted the name Muhammad Asad after reverting to Islam. Born in Austria in 1900, he studied philosophy at the University of Vienna and continued his studies at the University of Cairo. Asad authored several books, including "The Road to Makkah", which was written after his performance of Haj and after traveling in several countries. He went to India while it was under the colonial rule of the British and met with Allama Muhammad Iqbal in 1932. It was Iqbal who persuaded him to stay in India and work with Muslim leaders to create an independent state for Muslims in the subcontinent. He responded positively to this request and worked as director of the Islamic Research Center in Lahore. After the creation of Pakistan, Asad obtained Pakistani citizenship and joined the Pakistani diplomatic corps. He served in various capacities, including as Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations. In my speech, I expressed surprise at the ambivalence of successive Pakistani governments in resolving the issue of the stranded Pakistanis. Their great sacrifices for preserving Pakistan's unity found no success and they became victims of the vendetta of Bangladeshi separatists after the fall of Dhaka. These people are now languishing in camps scattered over at least 66 localities in Bangladesh and are receiving little support. While concluding the speech, I expressed my hope that Pakistan's Supreme Court would accept the rights of the stranded Pakistanis in its verdict and that the government of Nawaz Sharif would take urgent measures to settle them in Pakistan. In his speech, Syed Ehsanul Haque, organizer of the symposium and convener of the PRC, thanked all speakers and poets as well as the audience for taking part in the event. He also commended the efforts being made by PRC members to address the problems of the stranded Pakistanis and to gather support to resolve their issues.
— Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
