JEDDAH, 7 March 2003 — The Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) held a symposium on “Kashmir, an obligation of Muslim Ummah” at a local hotel here yesterday.

Akhtar Hussain Mayo of the Saudi German Hospitals Group, who presided, said the problems facing the Ummah could be solved if people adhered to the teachings of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He said issues like Kashmir, Palestine and Bosnia could be resolved if Muslims were united and followed Islamic teachings.

The atrocities perpetrated by the Indian Army could not deter Kashmiris from fighting for their right to self-determination, he said.

Sardar Rahmat of the Kashmir Committee said peace in South Asia hinged on the resolution of the Kashmir issue. If India wanted peace it should resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN resolution.

Asad Akram, general secretary of the Pakistan Journalist Forum, said that the Muslim world backed Kashmiris. The West, he said, was interested in implementing only those resolutions which benefit non-Muslims. They are indifferent when it comes to Palestine, Kashmir or Chechnya.

Mahmood Bahaziq, in charge of Tahfizul Quran Schools in Jeddah, said it is the duty of every Muslim to play his role in serving humanity.

Maqboolur Rahman Abbasi said Muslims appeared to be weak today despite being stronger in number and resources. He said the only way Muslims can survive in the world is through unity. He appreciated the present government’s stand on Kashmir.

Another speaker, Ahmed Abdur Rafi, said the division of India was not carried out according to the agreed two-nation theory and Britain took all steps to make Pakistan weak and put Muslim areas under Hindu domination. Kashmir is one such example where 92 percent Muslim population was put under the domination of Hindus. He appreciated the observation of the NAM conference which differentiated between terrorism and freedom.

Ehsanul Haque, convener of PRC, commended the Pakistan government’s stance on Kashmir but said it was not enough. The government should press the US to coerce India into implementing the UN resolution on Kashmir.

A number of resolutions were passed at the end of the symposium that called on Pakistan to project the Kashmir issue at international forums more forcefully. Islamabad was urged to reactivate the Rabita Trust which had been assigned the task of repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis. Some 250,000 Pakistanis have been languishing in Bangladesh camps since the fall of Dhaka in 1971.

Renowned poet and PRC’s secretary of publications, Naseem Sehar, recited a poem on Kashmir.