JEDDAH, 1 May 2006 — Speakers at a function organized by the Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) called on the government of Pakistan not to offer any more concessions to India on Kashmir; involve the Kashmiris in talks; and seek a just settlement of the row according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
The meeting, organized here on Friday to mark the death anniversary of eminent poet Allama Iqbal, also urged Islamabad to reactivate the Rabita Trust and begin the repatriation of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh. The chief guest was Ansar Burney, chairman of the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust, an organization based in Pakistan while Dr. Monawar Hashmi, an expert on Iqbal, presided over the function.
The PRC condemned the atrocities of Bangladesh police on the stranded people who wanted to march to the Pakistani Embassy in Dhaka to present a memorandum. It asked the Pakistani government to instruct its high commissioner in Dhaka to look after the stranded Pakistanis until they are repatriated to their country.
The PRC also called on Pakistani charitable organizations to help those stranded in Bangladesh, especially since they are Pakistani nationals languishing in squalid camps in a hostile country.
The speakers paid rich tributes to Iqbal. They stressed the need to take lesson from the teachings of the poet who had envisioned a separate state for the Muslims of the Sub-continent.
Burney spoke about the teachings of Iqbal and the strong leadership role of Muhammad Ali Jinnah that culminated in the creation of Pakistan.
He said it was very unfortunate that we lost a part of out country within 25 years of its creation. Another unfortunate thing is: “We have not learned anything from our past mistakes.
“A quarter of a million Pakistanis, who made sacrifices for the country, were abandoned to languish in Bangladeshi camps. Today we are divided on the basis of ethnicity and sects and oppose the repatriation of those patriotic people because of our vested interests.”
PRC convener Ehsanul Haque said Iqbal was the one who inspired and convinced the Quaid-e-Azam to struggle for a separate Muslim country.
He said there was need for more research on Iqbal.
“If we had followed the teachings of Iqbal, we would not have lost half of our country and abandoned the patriotic Pakistanis to live in Bangladeshi camps,” he said.
Others who spoke included Aziz Ahmed, Abdur Rafi, Gulab Khan, Maqboolur Rahman Abbasi and Mohammad Jamil Rathore.
