Syed Mussarat Khalil
JEDDAH — Muslims of Bihar made lot of sacrifices in 1947 and again in 1971 to safeguard Pakistan’s integrity and solidarity, said renowned Saudi intellectual, writer and ex-diplomat Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi in his presidential address, which was read out by his son Mohammed Al-Ghamdi in the function organized by Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) on the occasion of 139th birth anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah at VIP Hall of Mehran restaurant.
He said after the creation of Bangladesh they became captive and have been suffering for 44 years in camps. “If Quaid-e-Azam would have lived, he would not have been happy that patriotic Pakistanis are left in Bangladesh, where they are humiliated and persecuted,” he added.
He appealed to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to arrange for their repatriation at the earliest.
Chief guest Shahid Rasheed, general secretary Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust (NPT), congratulated PRC for organizing such an event on the birth anniversary of the father of the nation. He said the late Majeed Nizami sent him in 1990 to Bangladesh to visit the camps of stranded Pakistanis and get their true position.
I was really shocked to observe them living in totally inhuman condition. On his report late Nizami established “Nawa-i-Waqt Fund for stranded Pakistanis”. He paid tribute to the late Ghulam Haider Wayen, the then chief minister of Punjab, for building 1,000 housing units in Mian Channu where 58 families repatriated in January1993 were settled.
Guest of honor Mir Nawaz Khan Marwat, assistant general secretary WMC, praised the charismatic leadership of Jinnah and said, “Though he used to speak in English the audience used to listen raptly amid pin drop silence since they believed in his honesty and commitment.”
He said I totally support PRC’s mission for their repatriation and rehabilitation as per Rabita Trust.
Amir Mohammad Khan, chairman PJF, Choudhry Riaz Ghumman, Abu Bakar Memon, Tayyab Mosani, Shamsuddin Altaf, Aziz Ahmed and Mohammad Amanatullah praised PRC for organizing program on Quad-e-Azam’s birth anniversary. Convener Syed Ehsanul Haque thanked all the guests, speakers, poets and journalists for participating.
He thanked Dr. Abdullah Omar Nasseef for giving PRC the opportunity to present a memorandum on stranded Pakistanis to Senator Raja Zafrul Haque in annual meeting of World Muslim Congress in Jeddah.
Haque called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to reactivate Rabita Trust and restart the process of repatriation. He prayed for late Majeed Nizami for creating Nawa-i-Waqt fund for stranded Pakistanis.
Mohammad Luqman of Global International (subsidiary of WMC) informed the activities of eye treatment in the camps.
Hamid Islam Khan welcomed the guests. Syed Mussarat Khalil conducted the event. Earlier the function started with the recitation of verses from the Holy Qur’an by Qari Abdul Majeed.
Naat was presented by Sher Afzal. Poets Syed Mohsin Alavi and Zamurrad Khan Saifi presented poems in tribute to Quaid.
