Zulfi wins praise from UK parliamentarians for community engagement

LONDON/BRADFORD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis & Human Resource Development Zulfikar Bukhari has won praise from British Pakistani parliamentarians for his hard work and efforts to help the overseas Pakistanis.

Former cabinet minister and Tory House of Lords member Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and Labour MPs Naz Shah, Yasmeen Qureshi, and UK-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce & Industries (UKPCCI) President Amjad Khan have appreciated Zulfi Bukhari for actively engaging with them on issues related to British Pakistani communities.

Zulfi Bukhari travelled to Bradford and Dewsbury a day after his arrival in London and attended seven meetings including a visit of Bradford’s main mosque to meet the ordinary members of the community, held two meetings with local business leaders and invited them to invest in Pakistan. He visited a community centre in the afternoon and met local women and community members to discuss their issues. Naz Shah MP arranged these visits.

She said that Zulfi Bukhari was showing real commitment and working hard to support the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government. Naz Shah MP said Zulfi Bukhari has shown real passion of engaging with the communities and during his two trips to the UK in six months, he has reached out to the people.

She said it was a “huge pleasure hosting Zulfi Bukhari in Bradford, sharing Imran Khan’s bold vision of engagement with the diaspora community in the UK for the benefit of Pakistan and overseas Pakistanis” and “showing real leadership and sharing your inspirational vision and that of Imran Khan with the diaspora community”.

Naz Shah, MP, said that during his meetings with the business community members, the PM’s adviser was told about the hurdles overseas Pakistanis face in Pakistan and the PM’s adviser assured that he will get their concerns addressed on priority.

In Dewsbury, Sayeeda Warsi had invited him as special guest and speaker for the women’s empowerment charity Savayra Foundation that works for empowerment of women in Pakistan. Warsi said that she had raised “over £100K” at the event.

Tracy Brabin, MP, Labour and Co-operative MP for Batley & Spen and Shadow Minister for Early Years and Paula Sherriff, MP for Dewsbury and Shadow Minister for Health, were also in attendance at the event. They expressed satisfaction that the Zulfi Bukhari heard issues of their constituents and assured to resolve them.

Yasmin Qureshi, Labour MP from Bolton South East and Shadow Justice Minister, welcomed engagement of Zulfi Bukhari with the community and said that such kind of effort is needed to implement the vision of Pakistan’s prime minister. She said that both Zulfi Bukhari and Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK Nafees Zakaria attended the Bradford event to raise funds to help Pakistani girls.

“I was really pleased to see PM Imran Khan’s adviser on overseas in the midst of the community. It’s great that Mr Bukhari is making such efforts. He has been attending community events and meeting people in an open manner and that’s a welcome change.” The UKPCCI’s President, Amjad Khan, said that in a short time Zulfi Bukhari has made impact as he knows the overseas matters very well, first hand, and knows how to engage with the diaspora communities. Amjad Khan said that Zulfi Bukhari met the UKPCCI delegation in London and invited British Pakistani businessmen to invest in schemes such as Pakistan Banao Certificate. Khan said that Zulfi told businessmen that PTI government is making Pakistan amongst the most business friendly countries and time was right for the overseas Pakistanis to invest in Pakistan.

Amjad Khan said that overseas advisers and ministers in PPP and PML-N governments didn’t show up at community events, didn’t engage and hardly their names were known but Zulfi Bukhari has already shown a lot of commitment by reaching out to the community. After assuming charge as PM Imran Khan’s adviser on Overseas Pakistanis, Zulfi Bukhari has made two visits to the UK and throughout his visits, he has met community groups, parliamentarians, business leaders and community members to inform them about the steps Imran Khan’s government is taking to help overseas Pakistanis as well as to seek their opinion on what could be done to address the grievances of overseas Pakistanis.

He said that every politician says that overseas Pakistanis are the most valuable asset of Pakistan but Imran Khan’s adviser on Overseas Pakistanis is actually making the overseas Pakistanis realize that they are the best asset Pakistan has.