This refers to the news report, “Expats remember stranded Pakistanis on Kashmir Day,” published in Arab News on Feb. 6. on the occasion of Kashmir Day, organized by the Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) to highlight the issue of Kashmir.
The people in Kashmir are suffering at the hands of Indian forces since 1947 when they had occupied it. On the other hand patriotic Pakistanis are living in pathetic condition in Bangladesh since our army surrendered to the Indian Army in 1971.
As Pakistanis and Muslims this is our obligation to help those victims so that they could secure their basic rights of freedom. In case of Kashmiris, Indian government had agreed at the UN to hold plebiscite but during the past 65 years, it failed to act, while it has organized referendum in East Timor and Sudan within no time which shows the double standard it maintains. As for the stranded Pakistanis, it is the responsibility of our government to arrange their repatriation and rehabilitate them in Pakistan for which they had migrated in 1947.
I pray and hope that India and Pakistan will take immediate steps to solve the issue of Kashmir and stranded Pakistanis. — Mohammad Nasir Khan, Jeddah
Pakistanis suffering in Bangladesh
