LONDON: The British Pakistani community has hailed the decision of the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis to appoint a British Pakistani businessman and community activist as a member of Board of Governance for Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF). Dr Farooq Sattar, FederalMinister for Overseas Pakistanis, recommended to PrimeMinister Raja Pervez Ashraf to appoint Syed Qamar Raza, former secretary general of the UK Pakistan Chamber of Commerce & Industries, as the OPF board member as well as the executive committee member. In a gathering at the Ilford Islamic Centre, leading community activists from all sides hoped that the decision to appoint an active British Pakistani on the OPF board will create awareness of thework of theministry and the facilities it offers to overseas Pakistanis – the very people on whose name it operates but there is little or nothing known about the OPF’s work. Qamar Raza visited Pakistan for aweek on the invitation of the government of Pakistan to attend the OPF’s 121st meeting of its executive and board of governance members, which was chaired by Dr Farooq Sattar. Pakistan’s foreign secretary, secretary finance, secretary OPF, Central Board of Revenue chairman, governor of State bank of Pakistan and two MNAs are also members of the board of governance. Qamar Raza particularly appreciated Dr Farooq Sattar, who is also Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Convener, and said that the minister was keen
n to promote the rights of overseas Pakistanis against all odds and was reaching out to overseas Pakistanis and speaking loudly on their behalf. “The OPF exists towork for overseas Pakistanis through various channels, including direct contacts and Pakistanis missions abroad, but its role and outreach has been put under a blanket and unfortunately there has been no effort to engagewith Pakistanis. Farooq Sattarmust be credited for realizing the wrongs done in the past and taking steps to put them right. In my new role, I will work hard to help resolve the issues of overseas Pakistaniswho are a great asset of Pakistan. The government of Pakistan, it seems, recognizes the importance of overseas Pakistanis and considers themthe backbone of Pakistan’s social and economic life. There is an urgent need for the unity of overseas Pakistanis so that they can combine their efforts to work for the welfare of Pakistan and at the same time the government of Pakistan needs to consult its overseas citizens on all issues who are its ambassadors.” The speakers said the OPF had funds and it had been founded to connect with Pakistanis abroad but it seems that only few influential people had access to itswork and only a selected few benefit from its various schemes. They said the OPF should do road shows and public engagements events all over the world where Pakistanis are settled to listen to their problems and help resolve the issues. They also said on the issue of dual nationality, the OPF and the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis should take a firm stand to promote the interests of dual nationals. They said overseas Pakistanis were not less loyal and patriotic to Pakistanis than those living in Pakistan. The OPF’s website shows it has Raja Liaqat Hussain andMuhammad AkramAyoub Choudhry asmembers fromthe UK but these names have never been heard in the community and it’s not clearwhat these individuals do for overseas Pakistanis from Britain while being members of the OPF.