Naseem Sehar from Islamabad, Pakistan speaking at a function organized by PRC in Jeddah.

Pakistani expatriates at a meeting here condemned the “brutal killing” of 12 stranded Pakistanis in the Mirpur camp in Bangladesh.

The cruel incident occurred on June 14 when some Bengali hooligans burned alive the hapless Pakistanis including women and children.

Presiding over the function, Naseem Sehar, the poet and journalist, from Islamabad, rebuked the inhuman act that he said has created traumatic condition for a quarter million Pakistanis living in 70 camps in Bangladesh at the mercy of Bengalis.

He drew the attention of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif toward the tragedy, urging him to assign Pakistan high commissioner at Dhaka to formally protest on the event and ensure their safety by avoiding such incidents in future.

The prime minister must take immediate measures to bring them back home and settle in Punjab as was originally planned by the Rabita Trust, said Sehar, who is also the editor of Hisar.

Expressing solidarity with their stranded compatriots in this crisis, he said PRC’s mission would continue until those patriotic Pakistanis regain their due rights.

Ali Al-Ghamdi, the former Saudi diplomat, hailed PRC for “holding this event to stand in solidarity with those oppressed people.”

“Allah blesses the society in which the elite take care of the downtrodden,” Al-Ghamdi quoted this Hadith to remind the Pakistan establishment of its responsibility to take care of their brethren living in foreign land facing frequent persecution from its local people.

Those who spoke on the occasion included Mohammad Ashfaque Badaoyuni of Halqae Danishwaran, Abu Farhan Siddiqui, organizer of Muslim Welfare & Development Organization, Tayyab Mosani, general secretary, Pak Memon Association, Agha Mohammad Akram, of Pakistan Peoples Community, Faheem Ahmed Maitla, Cordinator Pakistan Peoples Youth Organization, and Shamsuddin Altaf.

The speakers were unanimous in condemning the savage act perpetrated on Muslims of the Mirupur camp and underlined their duty to stop the repression on their compatriots. They urged the Sharif government with one voice to solve the issue of their repatriation.

Others present during the occasion included Mounir Gondal of Kashmir Committee; Ghazanfar Hassan of Engineers Welfare Forum, Ilyas Meher of Pakistan Peoples Community; Najmi Bahjat, president of Moulana Hifzur Rahman Seoharvi Academy, and Faheem Ahmed Maitla.

PRC Convener Ehsanul Haque thanked the guests, speakers, poets and journalists “for extending solidarity to stranded Pakistanis in these critical times.” Words cannot heal their trauma, but by standing with them at this point of time will surely alleviate their suffering, he said.

The PRC convener welcomed the statement of senate head Raja Zafrul Haque, published in Arab News on June 25 that the Pakistan prime minister has instructed his close adviser Sartaj Azeez to work closely with World Muslim League in solving the issue of stranded Pakistanis and we hope that soon concrete steps will be taken.

The program that was conducted by Hamid Islam Khan began with Qur’an recitation by Qari Abdul Majeed and naat by Sher Afzal.

Poet Zamurrad Khan Saifi paid tribute to those killed in the incident.