Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) held an event at Mehran Restaurant Friday night to celebrate the 141st birth anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan.

The function was presided over by renowned Saudi intellectual, writer and ex-diplomat Dr. Ali Al-Ghamd. Raja Zareen Khan of Kashmir community was the chief guest. Other guests included Mian Mohammad Aslam, Mohammad Ali Al-Ghamdi, Tahir A.G. Khan, Asrar Khan, Syed Naseeruddin, Sultan Salahuddin, Syed Ghazanfar Hassan and Altafur Rahman.

Dr. Al-Ghamdi in his presidential address thanked the PRC for organizing the event to commemorate Pakistan’s founder. He said Jinnah was a great visionary and charismatic leader who succeeded in creating Pakistan, which most of leaders of the time were not expecting to happen. Initially Jinnah was part of the Indian National Congress and wanted to work jointly for a united India free from British occupation. However, when he realized that M.K. Gandhi and his fellow Congressmen were not honest in giving Muslims the role they deserved, he left Congress to join Muslim League after persuasion by Allama Iqbal and other Muslim leaders.

Al-Ghamdi quoted what US historian Stanley Wolpert wrote in his book Jinnah of Pakistan: "Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Mohammad Ali Jinnah did all three".

Al-Ghamdi said if Pakistanis would adhere to his mission and message of "Unity, Faith and Discipline" then an Islamic Welfare Pakistan of his dream could come true.

He said Jinnah acknowledged the sacrifices of the Muslims of Bihar for the creation of Pakistan. After Pakistan was born, Bihari Muslims migrated to East Pakistan to be citizens of an Islamic state. If they knew it were to become Bangladesh, a country for people speaking the Bengali language, they would not have migrated there. They also sided with Pakistan army in the 1971 war.

After the Pakistani Army surrendered, the Biharis were left at the mercy of Mukti Bahini and victorious junta, which tortured and persecuted the patriotic Pakistanis and kept them captive in the camps built by the Red Cross.

Those quarter million patriotic Pakistanis were still languishing in 66 camps of Bangladesh. Unfortunately the Pakistani government never fulfilled their obligations toward these people. Neither did it revalidate their Pakistani passports, which they lost due to the 1971 surrender.

lf Qauid-e-Azam were to live today, he would not have been happy to see this ill-treatment of his countrymen, Al-Ghamdi said, while appealing to Pakistan’s ruling powers, the army, the judiciary and the media to take urgent measures for the repatriation and resettlement of Biharis.

He also appealed to the Bangladeshi prime minister to treat the refugees humanely. He said the PRC's proposed self-finance scheme could be implemented to organized the repatriation and rehabilitation without burdening Pakistan’s economy.

Al-Ghamdi also demanded a plebiscite in Kashmir under the UN's auspices.

Chief guest Raja Zareen Khan said the Kashmiris also participated in the Pakistan Movement by supporting Quaid-e-Azam. He described Kashmir as the main vein of Pakistan. He condemned the atrocities on innocent unarmed Kashmiris by the occupying Indian army, which killed thousands of people and made thousands of others homeless. He hoped the OIC and the human rights organizations will project India's heinous crimes toward the Kashmiri people in the past 70 years.

Mohammad Jamil Rathore, general secretary of Pakistan Journalists Forum, praised the PRC for carrying on the mission of the Kashmir plebiscite and the repatriation of stranded for the last 25 years.

Tayyab Mosani, secretary-general of Pakistan Memon Association, paid rich tributes to Jinnah. He said Pakistan was created after a lot of sacrifices by Muslims in the minority provinces in India.

Renowned intellectual and writer Tariq Mahmoud thanked the PRC for holding the Quaid Day program. He particularly praised Dr. Al-Ghamdi for his persistent support to the causes of Kashmir and stranded Pakistanis.

Mahmoud paid rich tribute to Pakistan's founder and said all national issues could be resolved if adhered to the teachings of Quaide Azam.

He said we should start from ourselves to build Pakistan on Quaid’s vision and God willing in a short time the whole nation will follow suit. He called for updating the curriculum to educate the young generations on Quaid’s mission.

Guest speaker Faisal Tahir talked about Quaid-e-Azam’s honesty, commitment, vision, boldness, diplomacy and hard working nature. He said Pakistan today needed another Quaid to carry the mission of the founder of the nation forward.

Shamsuddin Altaf, Shaikh Mohammad Luqman, Mohammad Amanatullah, Agha Mohammad Akram talked about Quaid’s life and achievements. They also supported PRC’s calls for resettlement of stranded Pakistanis and a plebiscite in Kashmir.

Hamid Islam Khan, deputy convener, reiterated PRC’s slogan that "without the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis and the affiliation of Kahmiris, Pakistan will not be complete”.

Earlier the function started with the recitation of Holy Qur'an by Mohammad Jamil. A Naat was presented by Musarrat Khalil. Zamurrad Khan Saifi read his poem.

Convener Syed Ehsanul Haque thanked Dr. Al-Ghamdi and all the guests. He also presented a number of resolutions, which were approved by the audience.

In one resolution, the PRC urged President Mamnoon Hussain of Pakistan to issue passports to stranded Pakistanis and restart their repatriation and settlement program. To overcome the paucity of funds, it asked him to adopt PRC's proposal of “settlement of stranded Pakistanis on a self-finance basis."

Bangladesh should also play its role in solving the issue. Pakistani High Commissioner in Dhaka should be assigned to take care of food, healthcare and security of a quarter million Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh, the resolution said.

In another resolution, the PRC condemned the Indian army’s atrocities against innocent people in occupied Kashmir. The Pakistan government should mobilize its influence with the UN, the United States and other super powers to put pressure on India to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir according to the wishes of its people.

The PRC praised the role of Nawai Waqt Fund, MWL, IIROSA, OBAT Helpers and other charitable groups in alleviating the miseries of stranded Pakistanis. It also commended the IDB for sending 5,000 to 10,000 sheep slaughtered in Mina during Haj every year for distribution in the refugee camps.

It urged Eidhi Trust as well as the welfare wings of MQM, Jamaate Islami, Tehrike Insaaf, PML and PPP to start welfare activities to support stranded Pakistanis in Bangladeshi camps.