ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday, reaffirming Pakistan’s support to the suffering people of Palestine, Gaza and Lebanon, urged the countrymen to donate generously to the relief fund, established by the government.
The prime minister, chairing a meeting to review the relief efforts for dispatching the relief assistance for Palestine, Gaza and Lebanon, appealed the people to supplement the government’s efforts and particularly the affluent people to donate wholeheartedly for the fund.
He said the locals as well as overseas Pakistanis should send their donations to IBAN:PK11SBPD00
00001111114292 or Raast ID: 01111114292 to assist the suffering people of Palestine and Lebanon. He told the meeting that Pakistan would soon dispatch another 3,000 tents and 12,000 blankets besides eatables and medicines for the people of Palestine and Lebanon.
He sought a report from the Pakistan’s ambassadors in the neighboring countries of Palestine and Lebanon - Egypt, Oman and Syria - on the required quantity of tents and blankets, also directing them to play their role to accelerate the supply of relief goods.
The prime minister condemned the impediments being created by Israel in the relief efforts and lauded the NGOs supplementing the Government of Pakistan’s relief efforts.
He said the government would make no compromise on the quality of the relief items and asked the authorities concerned to dispatch the fireproof tents.
Expressing his concerns over the growing Israeli barbarism, he called for the international community’s role to end the genocide of Palestinian people.
He said the major reason behind the world war in the 20th century was the indifference of the world powers to the conflicts.
In the briefing, it was told that since October 8, 2023, 12 cargos had been dispatched to Palestine through six chartered, three PAF special flights and another three through the sea route.
The consignments consisted of 3145 tents, 12625 blankets, eatables, milk powder and medicines. Besides, another 3,000 tents and 12,000 blankets were being sent through three flights soon.
The prime minister was informed that two batches of Palestinian medical students had reached in Lahore and Islamabad.
Prime Minister Shehbaz asked the relevant authorities to make arrangements for Palestinian students to study in other disciplines as well, other than the medicine.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Ahad Khan Cheema and Attaullah Tarar, Advisor to PM Rana Sanaullah, SAPM Tariq Fatemi, chairmen of Higher Education Commission, and National Disaster Management Authority and relevant senior officers attended the meeting.
‘Release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui’
Additional Attorney General (AAG) Friday informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has written a letter to US President Joe Biden seeking release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui currently confined in an American prison.
The AAG apprised this before a single bench of IHC comprising Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan during the hearing of the constitutional petition of Dr Fowzia Siddiqui who moved the court through her lawyer Imran Shafiq Advocate.
In his letter to Biden, Shehbaz stated that I am writing this letter to you, President, to seek your kind intervention in a matter that deserves to be viewed with compassion.
He added, “I am referring to the case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani citizen who has been incarcerated at FMC Carswell since September 2010. Dr. Siddiqui is serving an eighty-six (86) year sentence, without the possibility of parole, imposed by the Southern District Court of New York. Now 52 years old, she has spent approximately sixteen years behind bars in the US”.
“Over the years, numerous Pakistani officials have paid consular visits to Dr. Siddiqui at FMC Carswell and all of them have raised their serious concerns about the treatment she has received, which has severely impacted her already fragile mental and frail physical health. In fact, they even fear that she could take her own life,” said the PM.
He added that he is well aware of how passionately you have fought for the rights of your citizens, particularly those stranded or held captive abroad.
He continued, “You would, therefore, fully understand that as Prime Minister, it is my solemn duty to intervene when it becomes absolutely necessary to ensure a citizen’s well-being, particularly when the circumstances are as dire as they are in this case.”
Shehbaz further said that keeping these facts in view, I request you, Mr. President, to kindly exercise your constitutional authority and accept Dr. Siddiqui’s clemency petition and order her release, strictly on humanitarian grounds.
He concluded, “I trust that, guided by the spirit of kindness and compassion, you will accord the most serious consideration that this request deserves. Her family, and millions of my fellow citizens join me in seeking your blessings for a favorable outcome of this request.”