KARACHI: Settlement of occupants of evacuee property was completed yesterday [June 9], and to mark the occasion, the Rehabilitation Minister, Lt-Gen Mohammad Azam Khan, said to the nation in a message: What was not done in 12 years has been done in 12 months.

He recalled that Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan had, after assuming the reins of the Government, accorded top priority to rehabilitation and settlement work. That work has been completed in the short period of 12 months.

In the course of the message, which was broadcast in the national hook-up of Radio Pakistan yesterday, Gen Azam Khan said: “Henceforth there will be no distinction between a refugee and a local. All the citizens of Pakistan, by whatever name they might have been called in the past, will join together in the service of their country, because the progress of Pakistan is the progress of the entire nation.”

The Rehabilitation Minister praised refugees for their spirit of service. He said: “Everyone knows that the refugees did not come to Pakistan for the sake of houses, shops, lands, factories or to build up their own properties. They staked their all for the sake of Pakistan, and there are still moved with the same spirit. They consider it their religious duty to serve the country.” — Correspondent

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2018