World Muslim Congress President Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef on Friday stressed UN mediation for any meaningful solution to the Kashmir issue and that, he said, there should be a series of dialogues between India and Pakistan under the aegis of UN.

Naseef was speaking at a symposium on “Kashmir and obligation of Muslim World,” which was organized by Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) to mark the Kashmir Solidarity Day in Jeddah recently.

Presiding over the function, Naseef also referred to the issue of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh, and hoped the issue would get due priority on the agenda of the present government in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had taken initiative in 1988 as Punjab chief minister and again in 1992 and 1997 when he was prime minister to bring back the hapless Pakistanis from Bangladesh refugee camps and rehabilitate them in the country, according to Naseef, who has also served on Kingdom’s Shoura Council as vice president.

He said: “We know Pakistan has several pressing issues but delaying further their repatriation is going to worsen their miserable condition the camps.”

Former Saudi diplomat Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi said under the ideology of Two-Nation theory for the division of subcontinent, Kashmir must have been an integral part of Pakistan, since majority Muslim population.

He reminded India of its commitment that he made in UN in 1948 to hold plebiscite in Kashmir, he said OIC can assist in a dialogue between India and Pakistan to seek a peaceful solution for Kashmiris.

Khaled Almaeena however considered it a wishful thinking that UN will initiate plebiscite after 65 years.

“The solution to Kashmir will not come via any type of war or threat but only by negotiations,” he said.

PRC Convener Syed Ehsanul Haque recalled Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s declaration of Kashmir as Pakistan’s vital veins, which Haque said could be understood in terms of its rich water resources, which has become life line for Pakistan. He appealed to OIC for taking concerted efforts in solving the issue.

He said Islamabad should also use the influence of China, USA and other world powers to facilitate for the holding of a plebiscite.

He hoped the Nawaz Sharif government will take “urgent measures to solve the issue of Kashmir as also that of the stranded Pakistanis.”

The PRC convener welcomed and thanked the participants mainly Dr. Naseef, Dr. Ghamdi, Almaeena and others for participating in the symposium.

Several of the prominent community members spoke on the occasion including Azeez Ahmad, Tayyab Mosani, Hamid Islam Khan, Shamsuddin Altaf, leader of Pakistan Peoples Community, Mohammad Amanatullah, an Urdu columnist and Sheikh Mohammad Luqman, businessman.

Poets like Syed Mohsin Alavi, Abdul Qayyum Wasiq and Zamurrad Khan Saifi recited poems.

The program ended with a special supplication beseeching Allah for special place in Jannah for the late King Abdullah. It also prayed for the success of Custodian of Two Holy Mosque King Salman.