JEDDAH, 6 February 2007 — The Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) called on Muslim countries and the Organization of the Islamic Conference to help resolve the issues confronting the Ummah, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute that has caused relations between India and Pakistan to sour.
Speakers at a symposium entitled “Kashmir an Obligation of the Muslim World,” called for an aggressive OIC role for the settlement of the row. The United Nations and the West are not serious in resolving the issues confronting the Ummah, they said. The meeting, held on Sunday night to mark the Kashmir Solidarity Day, adopted a resolution calling on India, Pakistan and the Kashmiris to make serious efforts to resolve the dispute. It also called on the government of Pakistan to begin the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis languishing in Bangladeshi camps for over three decades.
Sardar Rahmat Khan of the Kashmir Committee, who presided over the symposium, said Muslim countries should take serious steps to resolve the Kashmir dispute and other issues faced by the Ummah. The UN took deep interest in the East Timor issue and held a referendum there because it was not a Muslim concern. He said the issue of stranded Pakistanis was being politicized although it was a humanitarian and national issue that warranted immediate attention.
Maqboolur Rahman Abbasi of the Pakistan Journalists Forum said President Pervez Musharraf’s initiative brought India to the negotiating table and it was a wise move because a war is unlikely to settle the Kashmir row.
“We have to include Kashmiri leaders in the dialogue,” he said. He urged President Musharraf to resolve the issue of stranded Pakistanis in light of the PRC proposal that envisages the repatriation and rehabilitation of the stranded people on a self-finance basis.
Ashfaque Badayuni said the OIC should play a role in the resolution of the repatriation issue. He said that ignoring patriotic Pakistanis, “undermines our credibility as a caring nation.”
Ghulab Khan, a community leader, called for giving more emphasis on science and technology for rapid development.
PRC convener Ehsanul Haque said that the peace moves initiated by President Musharraf and the support extended by Kashmiri leaders like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq were positive developments.
“It is now important that the Kashmiri factions stay united and push the peace process. They should learn lessons from the Afghan leaders whose infighting cost them their victory,” he said. He also urged President Musharraf to take steps for the repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis and hoped that the committee formed by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to look into the issue of stranded Pakistanis would carry forward the mission of the Rabita Trust. He also called on charity organizations to help the stranded people in Bangladesh.
Other speakers included Azeez Ahmed, the secretary-general of Pakistan Engineers Society, Abu Farhan Siddiqui, the secretary-general of the Muslim Welfare and Development Organization, and Mohammad Jameel Rathore, the general secretary of the Pakistan Journalists Forum.
