JEDDAH, 9 November 2004 — The setting up of a research academy in memory of poet Allama Iqbal is among the proposals made by Pakistan Repatriation Council at its meeting here on Sunday while also highlighting the plight of the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh.
The meeting, held to celebrate Allama Iqbal’s 127th birth anniversary, also welcomed the Indian government’s move to allow Kashmiri leaders to visit Pakistan and emphasized that it was necessary to include the Kashmiri people in the negotiation process and be given the right of self determination.
The meeting urged Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to order the reactivation of Rabita Trust and wanted the process of repatriation and rehabilitation to start immediately. “The trust should also include the representation of Bangladesh government, and the Pakistanis stranded in that country should be allowed to settle there or in Pakistan.”
Dr. Monawar Hashmi, who presided, urged the Pakistan government to organize the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis on priority, as they had already suffered a lot in the camps in Bangladesh. He criticized historian and scholar Dr. Mubarak Ali’s statement on a private TV channel that he did not think that Iqbal originally gave the idea for the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim nation. “It’s authenticated and agreed and even accepted by the Quaid-e-Azam that the carving out of the Muslim nation from the subcontinent was Iqbal’s original idea,” he said.
“We should sincerely look into Iqbal’s message of unity of Muslims without which we cannot regain our dignity,” Mohammad Jamil Rathore said and appreciated the PRC’s efforts seeking the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis.
Maqboolur Rahman Abbasi said the suffering of the stranded Pakistanis had been compounded by the fact that the commitment made at the time of Pakistan’s creation was not fulfilled and that the messages of Quaid-e-Azam and Iqbal were ignored. “The stranded Pakistanis are a symbol of the ideology of Pakistan and they have truly shown their affiliation to that ideology,” he said.
“We urge the government to generalize the philosophy of Iqbal so the new generation truly understands the concept of Pakistan. While scholars have spent more time and resources to understand Iqbal’s philosophy, we haven’t understood his message and hence lost the track, half of our country and a quarter million patriotic Pakistanis are still languishing in 66 camps in Bangladesh,” he said and pointed out that the nominal subsistence allowance of wheat supply to the stranded Pakistanis had been stopped, thus increasing their sufferings.
He urged the Pakistan government to reactivate Rabita Trust and start the repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis on top priority. “If some of them want to settle down in Bangladesh, Rabita Trust should build houses for them in that country and arrange for the repatriation of the rest to Pakistan,” he added.
Asad Akram, Mohammad Jamil Rathore, Naushad Shamimul Haque and Arshad Raza, all of Pakistan Journalists Forum, Abu Farhan Siddiqui of Muslim Welfare Development Organization, and community leaders Maqboolur Rahman Abbasi, Tariq Mahmood and Mohammad Ashfaq were present. Poets Nasim Sehar, Abdul Qayyum Waseq, Mohsin Alavi and Naushad Usman read poems to pay tributes to Iqbal. Hamid Islam Khan conducted the proceedings and Farhan Siddiqui recited verses from the Qur’an. Islamic Development Bank President Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Ali sent a message wishing the function a success.
The meeting also paid tribute to Mian Mohammad Sharif, father of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who died here last week.
