JEDDAH, 16 June 2004 — A delegation of Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) presented a memorandum to Pakistan’s federal Minister for Religious Affairs Ejazul Haque on the issue of stranded Pakistanis. It suggested that the problem could be solved on the basis of self-finance.
The minister said he would forward the memorandum to the concerned authorities and convey the outcome to the PRC.
The memorandum urged the minister to help in reactivating the Rabita Trust, which was created by his father, the late President Zia ul-Haque on July 9, 1988, jointly with the Muslim World League’s former Secretary -General Dr. Abdullah Omar Nasseef (Hilal-e-Pakistan) to organize the repatriation of a quarter million stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh.
“These 40,000 families have to be settled in 40,000 houses in 34 districts in Punjab’s allocated land,” the memorandum said.
“In 1993, only 63 families were repatriated and settled in Mian Channu where houses were already built by the trust. The successive governments in Pakistan did not take serious measures to implement the project of the trust. In October 2001, the Rabita Trust was frozen to investigate its fund irregularities, a blame which was found totally wrong after an audit report by the Fergusson firm in 2003. Due to the freezing, the process of repatriation stopped. It also created a problem for the 63 repatriated families living in Mian Channu for 11 years due to the disconnection of electricity and other utilities for non-payment, which was the responsibility of the trust. This forced several families to leave the place and move and find refuge in cities.” The delegation urged the federal minister to take his personal initiative to reactivate the Rabita Trust and complete the mission of his father who wanted to solve the issue of stranded Pakistanis.
“The trust could not continue beyond a month of its establishment due to the president’s death in an air crash (Aug. 17, 1988) and also due to the vested interests of a few politicians. The issue deserves prompt attention and action,” the memorandum said.
The delegation included Ehsanul Haque, Hamid Islam Khan, Ariz Munsawar, Nasim Sehar, Syed Faiz Ahmed, Syed Mohsin Alavi, Qaiser Rashid, Zamurrad Khan Saifi, Sarfraz Ahmed Khan and Khurshid Ahmed.