ISLAMABAD: Two provincial lawmakers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have requested Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to give relief to the people of their areas imprisoned in various jails of Saudi Arabia on trivial charges.

In a letter to the crown prince, Sahibzada Sanaullah of the Pakistan Peoples Party and Inayatullah Khan of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal said: “We, on behalf of people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, request Your Excellency to grant this one-time relief to the downtrodden people of our area and release these helpless people so that they join back their families and start a new living in Pakistan.”

Read: The time to demand Saudi Arabia to treat Pakistani workers properly is now

The crown prince is expected to reach Islamabad on Feb 16 on his first visit to Pakistan.

“It is a matter of extreme honour and pleasure for the people of Pakistan to say a very warm and heartfelt welcome to Your Excellency on their soil. Please accept this feast on this soil of Pakistan.

In fact, loving people of this country have a special piece of love for Khadim al Harmain Al Sharifain,” read the letter, in which the lawmakers also appreciated the crown prince for giving bailout package to Pakistan.

They said that after 9/11, the people of Pakistan suffered immensely due to ramifications of the US war on terror in Afghanistan and its spillover effects on Pakistan.

The people of KP suffered the most and those living in Malakand division were the actual victims of this war.

The lawmakers said that there is also unrest in the ranks of poor labour classes due to increase in various service charges in Saudi Arabia, which is beyond their means to pay.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2019