06 September 2004	Monday	20 Rajab 1425

KARACHI, Sept 5: Speakers at the 27th annual convention of the Pakistani Bengali Charitable Association (PBCA) have said that Bengali speaking Pakistanis shared equal rights to live here as did the other Pakistanis.

They termed as illegal all action against them taken by the government agencies including the police. The convention was organized at the Karachi Press Club on Sunday, which was attended by a large number of Bengali speaking Pakistanis.

The participants chanted slogans for their rights of allowing them to live in Pakistan peacefully like other Pakistanis. Dr Saleh Zahoor, founder and chief PBCA, while speaking to the gathering said the Bengali speaking Pakistanis were being deprived of their rights since 1971, adding they were living in their own country like strangers.

He observed that Bengalis could not move freely in the city and go to their work places of the fear of police and other agencies. He claimed that Pakistani Bengalis were being tortured by the police, NARA, NADRA and other agencies despite the fact that they were living in the country since 1970, possessed national identity cards, and passports.

Besides, their names were also included in the voters' lists, he contended. Former MPA Farooq Awan said that Bengali speaking Pakistanis were more Pakistanis then the rest because Muslim League was founded in Bengal and Bengalis had participated more for getting Pakistan. - PPI