JEDDAH, 7 February 2006 — Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) passed resolutions calling for a plebiscite in Kashmir and repatriation of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh, at a symposium held here earlier this week.
Ghulab Shabbir Shah, managing director of the Saudi German Hospitals Group’s construction division, presided over the symposium on “Right of Kashmiris — an obligation of Muslim Ummah,” which was presided over by World Assembly of Muslim Youth Secretary Nazir Quraishi. Other guests and speakers included Urdu Markaz President Dr. Monawar Hashmi, president, Sardar Rahmat of Kashmir Committee, Pakistan Engineers Society Secretary-General Aziz Ahmed, Urdu Magazine Editor Rauf Tahir, Ghulam Nabi Butt, Maqboolur Rahman Abbasi and Asad Akram. Poets Naseem Sehar, Abdul Qayyum Waseq, Syed Mohsin Alavi, Asad Khan and Zamurrad Khan Saifi paid tribute to Kashmiris for their struggle for the right of self-determination. Hamid Aslam Khan conducted the proceedings, which started with the recitation of the Holy Qur’an by Qari Abdul Majeed.
Ghulam Shabbir Shah in his address said the peace in the subcontinent could be achieved only if Kashmiris were allowed to exercise their right of self-determination. “The movement for Kashmiris’ freedom cannot be considered as terrorism,” he said and gave the details of SGH President Sobhi Batterjee’s plan for building a 250-bed hospital in the earthquake-affected area of Kashmir.
Maqboolur Rahman Abbasi said the Pakistan government was doing its best to raise the Kashmir issue at international meetings and “hopefully it will be solved.”
Talking about the stranded Pakistanis, he said they did not surrender in the 1971 war and still flew their national flag in their camps in Bangladesh.
“We must seek the involvement of all international organizations to see that the 1948 UN resolution for the right of self-determination for Kashmiris is implemented,” Dr. Monawar Hashmi said and detailed the hardships of the stranded Pakistanis.
Azeez Ahmed presented a paper on the Kashmir tangle, which had been the result of the “subcontinent’s undue partition” and allowing India to have the access to Kashmir. “The two nation theory should have made Kashmir part of Pakistan,” he said.
Sardar Rahmat Khan said the sacrifices of Kashmiris would not go in vain. “Soon, we’ll see Kashmiris getting the right of self-determination.” Also, he added, the stranded Pakistanis should be immediately resettled in Pakistan. PRC Convener Ehsanul Haque said the confidence building measures should not divert the core issue of Kashmir. He also urged Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to activate the Rabita Trust and restart the process of repatriation and rehabilitation of a quarter million Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh.
Ghulam Nabi Butt, a Kashmiri, said Kashmiris had been fighting for their rights and would succeed. He urged Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to take urgent measures for the settlement of the stranded Pakistanis on the basis of Rabita Trust.
