JEDDAH, 9 October 2007 — The Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) held a function here on Sunday night to mark the Saudi National Day. Dr. Ghulam Akbar Khan Niazi, a prominent Saudi national of Pakistani origin, paid tribute to King Abdul Aziz who implemented Shariah and meted out punishment to robbers and criminals who used to rob Hajis.
“Saudi Arabia is the most peaceful country in the world today,” Niazi said.
He said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoyed fraternal relationship based on common belief. He urged Pakistani expatriates to work for the development of the Kingdom and prayed for peace, stability and integrity of both the countries and people.
Niazi, who was among the founders of the PRC, called on President Pervez Musharraf to reactivate the Rabita Trust and restart the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis.
He said the Punjab government has already allocated land for the rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis and now the government should have the will to restart the process.
Maqboolur Rahman Abbasi of Pakistan Journalists Forum said that denying the stranded Pakistanis their right to come to Pakistan is a great injustice. He said the new reconciliation ordinance will make politicians and government officials more corrupt and encourage corruption.
Abu Farhan Siddiqui of the Muslim Welfare and Development Organization urged people to help alleviate the miseries of the stranded Pakistanis living in Bangladesh camps. The MWDO is extending subsistence allowance to 450 destitute families.
PRC convener Ehsanul Haque said, “We consider Saudi Arabia as our second home and take pride in participating in the development of this country. He praised King Abdullah for actively working to resolve issues facing the Ummah.”
He also congratulated President Musharraf on his re-election and urged him to honor the promise he had made to Naseem Khan, leader of the stranded Pakistanis in Dhaka in July 2002.
The function, conducted by Hamid Islam Khan, passed a number of resolutions calling on Musharraf to reactivate the Rabita Trust and begin the repatriation of the stranded people.
The meeting thanked the Bangladesh government for offering citizenship to those stranded Pakistanis born after 1971.
It expressed surprise over the Pakistan government’s move to issue passports to Burmese Muslims while neglecting Pakistanis languishing in Bangladesh camps.
The meeting urged Islamabad to seek the help of UN and US to press India for holding a plebiscite in Kashmir.
Poets Naseem Sehar, Abdul Qayyum Waseq, Zamurrad Khan Saifi and Mohsen Alvi read poems praising the Kingdom and its leaders.
