Calls were made to form a ‘Friends of stranded Pakistanis' association and to reactivate the Rabita Trust at a symposium recently organized by the Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC), in association with the Pakistan Writers Club in Riyadh. “Stranded Pakistanis are living in a very miserable condition for the past 37 years in Bangladesh,” said convener Ehsanul Haque, urging political and charity organizations to embark on a nationalistic and humanitarian approach to ensure the rights of the Pakistani citizens. He presented a PRC proposal on the repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis which would “not have any financial liability on Pakistan. It is based on their employment in the Kingdom and the Middle East as a means of financing the cost of settlement; their productive employment would also provide foreign exchange to the country,” Haque said. He applauded Majeed Nizami's ‘Nawai Waqt fund for stranded Pakistanis' which remitted million of rupees to them. Syed Riaz Bukhari, president of Pakistan Peoples Community - Saudi Arabia and Sameera Aziz, Saudi Gazette Editor and Incharge of Awaz, in a telephonic address from Jeddah, lent their support to the cause of the stranded Pakistanis and backed the self-finance scheme proposal. The following resolutions were approved at the symposium: to urge President Asif Ali Zardari to reactivate the Rabita Trust and to restart the process of repatriation and rehabilitation, implementation of the PRC proposal of self finance, to assign the Pakistani High Commissioner in Dhaka to take care of the life, dignity and livelihood of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladeshi camps, to include the issue of settlement of stranded Pakistanis in the OIC agenda, to establish an organization ‘Friends of stranded Pakistanis' to advocate their rights, and to involve the United Nations and the US to influence India to ensure plebiscite in Kashmir. “A symposium on Dec.16 will be held to formulate a plan to urge the President and Prime Minister to urgently take an action on the issue,” said Haque. Riaz Rathore, president, Abdul Karim Khan, senior vice president, Sardar Sher Afzal, vice president, Pakistan Peoples Community, Riyadh, Choudhry Asheq Hussain, president, Rana Khadim Hussain, vice president PML, Aziz Khan, president, Shamshad Siddiqui, chief coordinator, Middle East Muhibbane Pakistan, Engr. Rana Rauf, president, Hafiz Abdul Waheed, general secretary Majlise Pakistan, Choudhry M. Akram of Minhajul Qur'an, Ashiq Hussain, general secretary, Engr. Khaja Nehaluddin, vice president, Pakistan Writers Club, and Engr. Arif Mirza, spoke at the program. Syed Faiz Ahmed Najdi, president of Pakistan Writers Forum moderated the symposium. __
