On the fortieth anniversary of the fall of East Pakistan, Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) held a symposium on “Repatriation of stranded Pakistanis our national obligation” on Sunday, Dec. 18 at Salt and Pepper Restaurant in Jeddah. Various officials from Pakistan were present to grace the occasion and speak on the important issue of stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh. The function was hosted by Abdul Qayyum Waseq. It commenced with the recitation of the Qur'an by Qari Azeemur Rahman, and was followed by a Na'at from Sher Afzal. Renowned poets like Naseem Sehar and Abdul Qayyum Waseq also recited poems for the martyrs of the tragic 1971 war. President of Urdu Markaz, Athar Nafees Abbasi, in his presidential address told the gathering that the fall of East Pakistan was a great conspiracy, which succeeded due to dishonest leadership. The tragic part is that for 40 years we have failed to give legitimate rights of citizenship to a quarter million patriotic Pakistanis, who are stranded in miserable conditions in camps in Bangladesh. They do not have any protection and support from the government due to ignorance, which sadly yet clearly shows the world that the nation does not care for its citizens. President of Pakistan Peoples Community, Syed Riaz Bukhari, praised PRC for holding the symposium. He said that the event of 1971 was the greatest tragedy of our history, but unfortunately no lesson has been learned from it and even today the nation is divided into ethnic, linguistic and sectarian entities, which only serves the politicians of vested interest. He extended full support for the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis and suggested to create an Action Committee in different countries to help pursue the cause further. President of Pakistan Journalists, Shahid Nayeem expressed his views by saying that the issue of stranded Pakistanis needs urgent attention of rulers, leaders and NGOs. Our media spends a lot of time on issues like “ memo scandal” , but the issue of stranded Pakistanis remained distant and did not get its priority coverage. It is high time that the leaders give due attention to repatriate them as per ‘Rabita Trust' plan. He urged President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani to arrange their repatriation and settlement in Pakistan on priosity as further delay will deteriorate their condition. Convener, Syed Ehsanul Haque thanked all the speakers for participating in the symposium. He also praised Majeed Nizami for the creation of Nawai Waqt Fund, which works in the interest of helping them financially. Community leaders Dr. Irfan Hashmi, Engr. Iftikhar Choudhry, Shaikh Mohammad Luqman, Tariq Mahmood, Gulab Khan, Riaz Ghuman, Syed Shahabuddin also spoke in support of this issue. At the end of the program Engr. Qari Asef made supplications for those who sacrificed their lives in 1971 war to protect the integrity and solidarity of Pakistan. Supplication was also made for Retd. Air Marshal Noor Khan, who died in Pakistan, recently. __
