‘PM Imran Khan wants to resolve issues of overseas Pakistanis’

LONDON: The Chairperson of UK’s Advisory Council of Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Commission (OPC) has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wants to address the grievances of overseas Pakistanis on priority basis and believes that there’s a need to streamline affairs of the OPC for permanent and speedy solutions.

In an interview Sayed Tariq Mahmood-Ul-Hassan, Chairperson Advisory Council UK Chapter OPC, said that the OPC Punjab is a statutory body which was created under Punjab Overseas Pakistanis Commission Act 2014 and now a 32-members strong advisory board has been made in the UK under the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He said, “I am thankful to Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Punjab Governor Muhammad Sarwar and Vice Chairman OPC Punjab Mr Waseem Akhtar Ramay for taking a keen interest in the affairs of overseas Pakistanis.

The UK chapter of OPC has members from all major cities and towns keeping in view the fact that more than 1.5 million Pakistanis live in the UK and most of them come from Punjab and Azad Kashmir. The UK chapter of OPC comprises nominees of nine elected regional PTI presidents. Since, the UK is hosting almost 1.5 million overseas Pakistanis, the membership of the UK chapter OPC was carefully nominated to ensure their easy access and availability to Pakistani community in UK.”

He explained that tens of millions of rupees are spent each year to address the problems of overseas Pakistanis but unfortunately the overseas communities are not aware of this. “We have to keep informed overseas Pakistani on where the money is being utilised and whether or not it’s being spent on them. The government of PTI is serious about spending the funds purely on the welfare of overseas Pakistanis.”

Responding to a question about the objection to the formation of OPC raised by a few PTI leaders in UK, the OPC Chairman said that newly appointed members of the advisory board are upright people who want to work for the betterment of overseas Pakistan. He termed it unfortunate that internal matters of PTI were brought to media forums, raising unreasonable objections.

“The new body has full support of the leadership and workers. This body is working towards resolving the issue that were ignored in previous governments. During the previous regimes, nothing much was done for overseas Pakistanis. We are taking this seriously because it’s Imran Khan’s vision to make overseas Pakistanis feel home and to bring them home. That can happen only when their problems are resolved. We don’t have a lot of time and we need to work on urgent basis,” said Makhdoom Tariq Hassan.

He said overseas Pakistanis are close to the heart of PM Imran Khan. “Imran Khan becomes emotional when talking about overseas Pakistanis. He has always spoken highly of them. The overseas communities have always empowered Imran Khan and they are proud of him. His vision is aligned with the overseas communities. His heart beats with Pakistanis all over the world. The OPC will be working towards the fulfillment of his vision.”

Sayed Tariq Mahmood-Ul-Hassan shared that most problems of overseas Pakistanis are related to land disputes and the criminality surrounding the same. In most cases, the power of attorneys are used wrongly and the system is open to exploitation. There are British Pakistanis in their thousands who have allowed their relatives to buy and sell lands; some have authorised relatives with power of attorneys; in some cases real siblings fall out bitterly over property disputes. An overwhelming number of cases are about the land disputes where properties have been occupied by mafias or relatives or criminals backed by the relative, he said.

Sayed Tariq Mahmood-Ul-Hassan has done masters in law from Nottingham University. He comes from a respectable family background in Punjab. He turned his mind towards charitable work after his two sons Zamam Ali Tariq, 13, and Muhammad Ali Tariq, nine, died in a horror car crash on motorway in Punjab near Kamalia. The family was in Pakistan for holidays when the tyre of their car burst and the car hit a roadside block.

Syed Tariq said, “That tragedy taught me that this life has meaning if you live it for others and devote yourself to resolve the problems of common people. I remained devastated for a year and then I decided to do volunteer work in memory of my beloved sons. I am working in my role for a mission of serving humanity.”