JEDDAH: The Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) held a symposium on Kashmir and the obligation of Muslim world toward Kashmiris.

It was presided by Ali Al-Ghamdi, a former Saudi diplomat. Other guests and speakers at the event were Shahid Nayeem, president, Pakistan Journalists Forum; Azeez Ahmed, secretary-general, Pakistan Engineers Society; Mohammad Tayyab Moosani, secretary-general, Pakistan Memon Association; Mohammad Riaz Ghumman of Kashmir Committee; Anwar Choudhry; Umar Khan; Altaf Rahman of Engineers Welfare Forum; and Ilyas Meher and Mohammad Akram Agha of Pakistan People’s Community.

The event was organized to express solidarity with the Kashmiris who are fighting for their right to self-determination.

Al-Ghamdi said: “Kashmir is an old issue like Palestine that awaits solution at the United Nations. In Palestine, Israel not only occupied but also changed the sanctity of Palestine by Judaizing the sacred city of Jeruselum by building houses for Israelis and throwing the Palestinian out of that city.

“In Kashmir, the UN resolution of 1948 called for a referendum to let the Kashmiris decide whether they choose to live with Pakistan or India, but the UN miserably failed in taking care of those issues.”

He appealed to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to take the lead in solving issues facing the Muslim world and press the UN and the superpowers to play their role in solving the Kashmir issue. India and Pakistan along with genuine Kashmiri leadership should also continue the dialogue process to seek solution of Kashmir peacefully, he added.

He appealed to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to fulfill his promise to repatriate and rehabilitate patriotic Pakistanis languishing in Bangladesh. “Pakistan has to come forward to show it cares for its ignored citizens,” said Al-Ghamdi.

Choudhry Mohammad Riaz Ghumman of Kashmir Committee praised Kashmiris for their determination to secure the right of self-determination.

PRC convener Syed Ehsanul Haque said even before the 1948 resolution, Kashmir should have been part of Pakistan according to the two-nation theory, which was the basis of India’s partition in 1947. “Also, Quaid-e-Azam declared Kashmir as the lifeblood of Pakistan,” he said.

Maqboolur Rahman Abbassi of Pakistan Journalists Forum, and PRC’s Deputy Convener Hamid Islam Khan and Press Secretary Mohammed Amanatullah also spoke at the seminar.

The event began with the recitation of the Holy Qur’an by Qari Mohammad Asif.

Poets Zamurrad Khan Saifi and Mohammed Akram Agha presented their tributes to the Kashmiri martyrs.

Azeez Ahmed wanted Pakistan government to work with close friends like Saudi Arabia to highlight the issue of Kashmir in international forums like the OIC and UN.

Tayyab Mosani urged the government to take measures for repatriation of a quarter million Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh.