JEDDAH, 8 April 2003 — Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is to reduce the charge for repatriating human remains to Pakistan to SR100, ruling party MP Choudhry Shahbaz Hussain said. He was attending a meeting with the Pakistan Journalists Forum here on Saturday.
Shahbaz sought suggestions from Pakistanis living in the Kingdom to allow future policies to properly address the problems faced by overseas Pakistanis. He urged the forum to keep the interests of Pakistan at heart.
Shahbaz said he would convey the grievances of the community members to the authorities in Islamabad and try to help solve them.
The forum asked the member of the National Assembly from the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) to take up the issue of the Pakistan Embassy School with the Pakistani authorities as there were a number of complaints against the school management.
They suggested the minister in charge of overseas Pakistanis’ affairs should visit the Kingdom and other Gulf countries once every three or four months to get first-hand knowledge of the problems of overseas Pakistanis.
On Friday, Choudhry Shahbaz presided over a Repatriation Council (PRC) function to mark Pakistan’s National Day. Prof. Francis Lamand, president of Islam and the West, was the guest of honor.
Shahbaz said that progress and prosperity hinged on adherence to Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s principle of unity, faith and discipline. He said Pakistan was achieved after great sacrifices and its citizens should work for its prosperity.
Shahbaz said that the present government would take measures to resolve the issue of stranded Pakistanis languishing in Bangladesh camps since 1971.
Francis Lamand said he was happy to work with the PRC in solving the issue of stranded Pakistanis and was optimistic after his meeting last month with a number of officials in Islamabad.
The PRC proposal could help solve the issue without any financial liability for Pakistan or Bangladesh, he added. Shahbaz also condemned a statement in which Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha hinted at a pre-emptive attack on Pakistan.
