Community members joined the Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) here to observe the 75th Pakistan National Day.

Presiding over the function, former Saudi diplomat Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi, said Pakistan was established with the great sacrifices of Muslims of the subcontinent.

He took the occasion to remember the partition of Pakistan in 1971 that led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Pakistani citizens, making them stranded in the newly created Bangladesh since then.

“For over 43 years they are languishing in camps there without any support,” he lamented and exhorted Islamabad to “open their arms to 300,000 stranded brethren and settle them with respect and honor for which Allah will be pleased and bless them here and in the Hereafter.”

He hoped Supreme Court will accept the rights of the stranded Pakistanis and the government of Nawaz Sharif will take urgent measures to settle them in Pakistan.

PRC Convener Syed Ehsanul Haque said in 1947 Muslims migrated from India to East Pakistan, not Bangladesh, which was carved out of the Islamic state on the issue of Bengali language.

Putting faith on Supreme Court decision, the PRC convener hoped those Pakistanis will get their rights and be settled in their own country soon.

Those who spoke on the occasion included Shamsuddin Altaf, leader of Pakistan Peoples Community; Azeez Ahmed, secretary general, Pakistan Engineers Society; Syed Musarrat Khalil, Pakistan Journalists Forum; and other writers and community leaders like Mohammad Amanatullah, Mohammad Ashfaque Badaoyuni, Hamid Islam Khan and Naushad Usman. They were unanimous in praising PRC for spearheading the campaign for the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh.

Other prominent community members who graced the function included Irfan Hashmi, Zubair Ahmed, Syed Mahmood Akhter, Mohammad Khaled Jawaid and Sohail Bokhari.

Syed Mohsin Alavi recited verses from the Holy Qur’an to initiate the program. Abdul Qayyum Wasiq, Sher Afzal, Zamurrad Khan Saifi and Alavi rendered poems to pay tributes to Pakistan. Abdul Qayyum Wasiq conducted the program.