APROPOS the editorial ‘Citizenship promise’ (Sept 18). It welcomes in principle Prime Minister Imran Khan’s move to grant Pakistani citizenship to the Bengalis and Afghans. However, the editorial makes it subject to taking on board the parties that may be affected by it, namely the provincial governments.

I ask the federal government, what chances there are of the acceptance of such a move by the Sindh government, which is reluctant to give due rights even to bona fide Karachi residents - whose numbers have been trimmed by a few million in the latest census.

Successive governments initially accepted and settled in Punjab some stranded Pakistanis --and thereby accepted legal responsibility for them—but later reneged on their commitment, despite financial assistance being available through the Rabta Alam-i-Islami for their resettlement.

Imran Khan’s move to grant citizenship is sound common sense and in the overall interests of the country. What is needed now is the moral courage to repatriate the unfortunate who call themselves Pakistanis and have been stranded in Bangladesh for 47 years.

S.R.H. Hashmi
Karachi

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2018