JEDDAH — Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) celebrated the 50th anniversary of Pakistan's Defense Day in memory of those martyrs who sacrificed their lives to protect the solidarity and integrity of Pakistan in the Sept. 6, 1965, war with India at the VIP hall of Mehran Restaurant. Renowned community leader Aziz Ahmed presided over the gathering. In his address he praised PRC for organizing the function in which leading members of the community attended. He paid rich tribute to those martyrs who sacrificed their lives during the 1965 war. He said that our forces wrote history of bravery and patriotism in fighting the enemy and succeeded to protect the country at that crucial time. He said the whole leadership was united with the people in support of the forces. He said we have to show the same spirit today to overcome internal as well as external threats to our country. We should be ready for any sacrifices to protect our homeland. PRC Convener Syed Ehsanul Haque thanked all speakers, journalist, poets and guests on their participation to the event. He said that on Sept. 6, 1965, Indian army had full conviction of winning so BBC had already announced that Indian army was celebrating the victory in Lahore Gymkhana. He said if we adhere to the teaching of Qur'an and Sunnah, Allah's support will always be there. Today we must commit that we should work on individual and collective level to implement the rule of Qur'an and Sunnah as we committed at the time of the creation of Pakistan in 1947, which is the only way to protect the integrity and solidarity of the country. He praised the government's stance in including Kashmiri leadership in the dialogues with India. Haque urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to fulfill his promise to restart repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh. He said that in the meeting between Sen. Raja Zafrul Haque and the PRC delegation in presence of Dr. Abdullah Omar Nasseef last year, he promised that soon measures would be taken to solve the issue of stranded Pakistanis. Other speakers included Shamsuddin Altaf, Mohammad Akram Agha, Mohammad Amanatullah, Mussarat Khalil and Saeed Ahmed Khan. They all paid tributes to Pakistani forces. The event was opened by deputy convener Hamid Islam Khan, who highlighted the role of Pakistani forces in driving the enemy out of our land in 1965 war. He said that in 1965, people of East Pakistan had shown the same level of patriotism and loyalty like West Pakistan but how within 6 years did we lose the 1971 war, this must be analyzed and due to that quarter million patriotic Pakistanis are still languishing in camps in Bangladesh. He said that PRC's agenda remains i.e. “Pakistan will not be complete without return of patriotic Pakistanis from Bangladesh and the joining of Kashmiris.” Earlier function started with the recitation of verses from the holy Qur'an by Qari Abdul Majeed, Naat was recited by Syed Mohsin Alavi. Poets Zamurrad Khan Saifi and Syed Mohsin Alavi presented their poems glorifying the armed forces. Sher Afzal presented national song on this occasion. A supplication was made for Pakistan and Saudi Arabia's solidarity, integrity, peace and harmony. Prayed for safety of lives of Burmese Muslims, Syrian and other refugees.
