JEDDAH, 28 March 2006 — Pakistan is a leading Muslim country and a strong Pakistan is very important for world stability, a former Saudi minister of information said.
“Saudis care for Pakistan the same way they care for their country since both countries enjoy fraternal relationship,” Dr. Muhammad Abdu Yamani told a Pakistan Day function organized by the Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) here on Friday.
Yamani, who is also the vice president of Dallah Al-Barakah, said PRC’s sustained efforts in seeking the repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh has been commendable. He hoped that the issue would be resolved soon.
Rao Zulfiqar Ali of the Consulate General of Pakistan, who presided at the function, said Pakistan’s creation was due to the dynamic leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and all Muslims were united in supporting him. “However, we got divided in ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. We need to adhere to the teachings and message of the country’s founder and with faith and discipline we could build a strong nation,” Ali said.
“We need to have a united approach to solve the national issues and shun the attitude of blaming each other,” another speaker Maqboolur Rahman Abbasi said and referred to the PRC’s sustained campaign for resolving the issues of Kashmiris and stranded Pakistanis.
Urdu Markaz President Dr. Monawar Hashmi stressed the need for improving the awareness of the country’s younger generations about the struggle that was headed by Quaid-e-Azam.
“On Pakistan Day, let’s commit to help our brethren in Kashmir and Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh camps and enable them to secure their basic rights,” Ghulam Nabi Butt said. “We should stop talking in terms of Punjabis, Pathans, Baluchs and Sindhs and work for the cause of Pakistan,” he said.
Pakistan Engineers’ Society Secretary General Azeez Ahmed urged the government and politicians to negotiate and resolve the issue related to Balochistan.
Sardar Rahmat Khan recalled the unity demonstrated by all Pakistanis to help the victims of the Oct. 8 earthquake. “People from Karachi to Khyber were one in supporting the victims,” he said.
PRC convener Ehsanul Haque said the talk of confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan should not divert us from the core issue of Kashmir. The meeting approved resolutions urging Pakistan government to negotiate with India only on the basis of the UN resolutions that advocate self-determination for Kashmiris, and called upon President Pervez Musharraf to reactivate Rabita Trust and repatriate and rehabilitate the stranded Pakistanis on self-finance basis. Various charity organizations were urged to supply relief goods including blankets, clothes and wheat to the Pakistanis stranded in 66 Bangladesh camps.
The meeting also condemned the blasphemous cartoons published by Danish and other Western papers and called for continuing the boycott of Danish products.
Other speakers and guests included Shahid Nayeem, Amir Mohammad Khan, Jamil Rathore, Asad Akram, Latifur Rahman, Abu Farhan Siddiqui of Muslim Welfare Organization, and poets Abdul Qayyum Waseq and Syed Mohsin Alavi.