ANP protests in Lower Dir to demand return of overseas Pakistanis

TIMERGARA: Awami National Party (ANP), Lower Dir chapter, on Monday staged a protest demonstration in front of Timergara Press Club, demanding relief for overseas Pakistanis stranded in Saudi Arabia and other gulf countries.

The protesters were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans like “Bring back bodies from Kingdome of Saudi Arabis (KSA) through special flights”, “Provide emergency relief to overseas Pakistanis”, “Send medical teams to KSA and provide medical cover to stranded Pakistanis there” and “Call back Pakistan’s ambassador to KSA Raja Ali Ijaz”.

Speaking on the occasion, ANP central vice president Hussain Shah Yousafzai, ANP Lower Dir general secretary Malik Muhammad Zeb, senior vice president Malik Sajjad Yousafzai, NYO president Tariq Aziz Durrani, former district councilor Wasil Khan, former tehsil councilor Abdurrashid, Malik Ulfat Hayat and others demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan to bring back bodies from KSA through a C-130 plane and arrange flights to immediately evacuate stranded Pakistanis from KSA as they said Pakistani citizens were facing a host of difficulties there and their families were much concerned about them.

They said the people of Dir were highly concerned about the plight of their near and dear ones in KSA as more than one member of each family in Lower Dir district had been abroad, managing the livelihood of the entire family, they added. They warned that if the government failed to provide relief to the overseas Pakistanis, ANP workers would come onto roads in support of the expatriates. They demanded Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan to apologise k to the overseas Pakistanis on his alleged irrational statement regarding stranded Pakistanis and condemned the alleged arrogant attitude of Pakistan’s ambassador in KSA Raja Ali Ijaz, demanding PM Imran Khan to immediately call him back to the country. They said that out of the total 9 million overseas Pakistanis, 3 million belong to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, most of whom had been working at KSA, UAE and other Gulf countries.