By Syed Mussarat Khalil
Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH — Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) held an emergency meeting at Mehran restaurant to condemn atrocities of Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir and to express solidarity with Kashmiris fighting for the right of self-determination.
It was presided over by Sardar Mohammed Iqbal Yousuf, chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Overseas Committee (JKOC) Saudi Arabia.
Shahid Naeem, president, and Jameel Rathore, general secretary, of Pakistan Journalists Forum (PJF), Khursheed Ahmed, general secretary JKOC, Choudhry Rizwan, Pakistan Media Group (PMG), Dr. Saad Hashmi, Anwar Choudhry, Khaled Jawed of Engineers Welfare Forum (EWF) and Akram Aga were other guests.
The function started with the recitation of verses from the Holy Qur’an by Shamsuddin Altaf. Naat was presented by Zamurrad Saif, while Mohammad Akram Agha and Saifi presented poems on the Kashmiris’ struggles.
Hamid Islam Khan, deputy convener, welcomed the guests and reiterated PRC’s mission for the cause of Kashmir and stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh.
In his address Sardar Iqbal praised PRC for organizing the emergency meeting to express solidarity with Kashmiris who are demanding their basic right of self-determination. He said Indian authorities thought that they could suppress Kashmiris by use of force but even after 90 days of curfew they failed to curb the valiant Kashmiris.
After martyring of Burhan Wani, the Kashmiris have taken to the street in their bid for their rights. They have hoisted the Pakistani flag to show their loyalty to Islam and Pakistan. He also condemned the cold attitude of United Nations and the superpowers by ignoring the issue for over 69 years although India should have been pressured to hold a plebiscite as per the Security Council resolution.
Maqbool-ur-Rahman Abbassi said the Pakistani prime minister should take joint stance on Kashmir. He also demanded early repatriation of stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh.
Ex-broadcaster Radio Pakistan Karachi, Mohammad Ashfaque Badayouni said that Kashmiris have taken to the street and this will not stop until they secure freedom from India.
Shamsuddin Altaf condemned Indian barbarism in Kashmir but this has resulted in strengthening of their movement for freedom from India.
Convener Syed Ehsanul Haque thanked all for attending the emergency meeting to express solidarity with Kashmiris brethren. He said the UN took very fast action to organize plebiscite in East Timor and Sudan but failed to implement UN resolution for a plebiscite in Kashmir in the past 69 years.
He appealed to Iyad Madani, secretary general of OIC, to take the lead in solving issues faced by the Muslim World and to press UN and other superpowers to play a role in solving the Kashmir issue.
He prayed that issues of Kashmir, Palestine, Syrians, Rohingya Muslims and stranded Pakistanis will be resolved soon.
The meeting also urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to reactivate the Rabita Trust and restart the process of repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis. To overcome the paucity of fund, the meeting suggested the implementation of the PRC proposal of “ settlement of stranded Pakistanis on self finance basis.”
The meeting also called on Bangladesh to play its role in solving the issue. It also urged the Pakistani High Commissioner at Dhaka to be assigned to take care of food, health, life and security of quarter million Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh and the OIC should include in its agenda the issue of settlement of stranded Pakistanis.
