LAHORE (STAFF REPORT) The federal government should extend total commitment and complete support to Saudi Arabia to ensure security of Harmain Shareefain. These views were expressed by participant of a women conference held here Wednesday on Yemen crisis.
Women belonging to all segments of society also affirmed that an attack against Harmain Shareefain was an attack on all Muslims. The women moot issued an eight-point declaration also condemning the illegitimate actions of armed rebels against the legitimate government of Yemen in the light of the UN resolution.
Former information minister Muhammad Ali Durrani, President CPNE Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami, senior analyst Saleem Safi and women belonging to different walks of life including Faiza Malik, Saeeda Nazar, Dr Noshena Rizwan, Perveen Sikandar Gul, Saadia Sohail, Mehr Bukhari, Miss Shahida, Tehmina Sana, Dr Tina Manzoor and many others were present.
Chairman Civil Society Front Pakistan Rukham Khan briefed the conference about agenda and invited the panel to render their insights on the complex issue of Pak-Saudi relations in the light of Yemen crisis.
The declaration said that no Pakistani could forget the fact that despite global opposition Saudi Arabia had been supporting Pakistan on various occasions since its inception. The declaration further stated that Pakistanis as a nation were deeply indebted to Saudi people for their kindness, generosity and unconditional support to the people and the State of Pakistan following the atomic blasts and in difficult situations such as heavy floods, earthquakes and other natural calamities. The women moot appreciated the initiation of political process as the second phase of military operation and considered it a step in the right direction.
It demanded of the Pakistan government its full support to the government of Saudi Arabia to strengthen their efforts to resolve the Yemen crisis.
“This forum understands that Yemen crisis is not at all a sectarian issue but instead it’s a part of a greater international conspiracy to destabilise the largest oil producing Islamic country on the lines of Iraq, Libya and Syria. It is prime responsibility of the whole Muslim world to pale this conspiracy,” it said.
The declaration highlighted the point that there were more than 2.5 million Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia sending more than Rs 500 billion back annually and this foreign exchange was helping Pakistan in its economic development. It was, therefore, the duty of government of Pakistan to safeguard the jobs and lives of these workers.
The women forum stressed that whole Islamic world should sit together on the one-point agenda of defending Saudi Arabia as the home of Harmain Shareefain and a joint strategy should be devised for this purpose to ensure peaceful execution of Haj and Umrah. The forum proposed the establishment of Saudi Pak Women Council representing women from both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia so that the already existing strong relations between the two countries could be further strengthened through people-to-people contacts.
