Istanbul conference: Mushahid announces parliamentary forum on Palestine, Kashmir, Rohingya

ISTANBUL: Leader of Pakistan Senate delegation to “Global Palestine Solidarity Conference” and Chairman, Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, has announced formation of a Pakistan parliamentary forum on Palestine, Kashmir and Rohingya (PKR), to promote and protect the cause of these oppressed peoples.

He made this announcement during his address to the “Parliamentarians for Al Quds’ Global Conference at Istanbul, attended by 74 countries. He also invited the ‘Parliamentarians for Al Quds’ to visit Pakistan in the first quarter of 2019, says a press release issued.

During his speech, Senator Mushahid Hussain referred to the vision of Pakistan’s founding fathers, Allama Iqbal and Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, regarding Palestine, referring to the resolution on Palestine passed on March 23, 1940, together with the Pakistan Resolution, Quaid’s meeting with Grand Mufti of Palestine, Mufti Amin al Husseini, in Cairo in 1946, and his letter to American President Truman in 1946 seeking justice for Palestinians.

Senator Mushahid Hussain also referred to Pakistan’s role during 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the Lahore Islamic Summit in 1974, the training of Palestinian cadets in Pakistani military institutions and Pakistan’s rejection of the American decision to shift its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, through resolutions passed in December 2017 passed by both Houses of Parliament plus sponsoring a similar resolution at the UN General Assembly on December 21, 2017.

Saying that Jerusalem is ‘Qibla Awwal’ for Muslims on which there could be no compromise, he quoted Allama Iqbal’s verses, 90 years ago, predicting the resurgence of Asia when the Great Poet-Philosopher talked of The Sun Rising from the East’! The speech of Senator Mushahid Hussain was warmly welcomed by the participants and the Pakistan delegation had sideline meetings with various delegations, including Palestine, Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt and African countries.