At a function organized here over the weekend to mark the fall of Dhaka, speakers urged Islamabad to reactivate the Rabita Trust in order to begin the repatriation of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh. Pakistan lost its eastern wing during the 1971 war with India that resulted in the creation of Bangladesh.

The meeting adopted resolutions asking Islamabad to assign its high commissioner in Dhaka to look after the quarter of a million Pakistanis living in Bangladesh camps. It also urged OIC to include in its agenda the issue of stranded Pakistanis.

Speaking on the occasion, Urdu Markaz President Athar Nafees Abbasi said the fall of East Pakistan was the result of a conspiracy that succeeded due to our dishonest leaders. He said those who resisted the fall of Dhaka and gave sacrifices for the country were unfortunately left behind in Bangladesh in a miserable condition.

The quarter of a million Pakistanis living in squalid camps in Bangladesh even after four decades shows how much we care for our citizens.

Syed Riaz Bukhari, president of Pakistan People’s Community, said the event of 1971 was the greatest tragedy of our history but unfortunately we have not learned any lesson from our mistakes. He suggested the creation of an action committee comprising different overseas Pakistani groups to help the PRC in pushing for their repatriation.

Shahid Nayeem, President of Pakistan Journalists Forum, said the issue warranted immediate attention of Pakistani government, NGOs, media and charitable organizations. He urged President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to initiate the repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis without further delay.

PRC Convener Syed Ehsanul Haque said it was an irony that over a million Bengalis are living in Pakistan as bona fide citizens whereas those patriot Pakistanis who rendered all kinds of sacrifices for their country have been left to live a miserable life in a hostile country.

He asked the governments of Pakistan and Bangladesh to seriously take up the issue and involve the Muslim World League, Organization of the Islamic Cooperation and the Islamic Development Bank to resolve it at the earliest.

Other speakers were Dr. Irfan Hashmi, Iftikhar Choudhry, Shaikh Mohammad Luqman, Tariq Mahmood, Gulab Khan, Riaz Ghuman and Syed Shahabuddin. Abdul Qayyum Waseq conducted the function.