Strongly urged Union ministers to evacuate stranded Kashmiris from Saudi Arabia: Saifuddin Soz

Former Union minister Prof Saifuddin Soz on Monday said that he had strongly pleaded with Foreign Minister Dr. Subramaniyam Jaishankar, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, and India’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mr. Ausaf Sayeed, to evacuate Kashmiris stranded in Saudi Arabia.

In a press statement, Prof Soz said that he had received a ‘disturbing letter’ from a prominent Kashmiri Ghulam Geelani, former News Editor, Radio Kashmir, who is also among the stranded Kashmiris in Saudi Arabia.

“I explained to the ministers that the stranded Kashmiris include old and infirm persons, small children and pregnant women,” he said.

“I informed these ministers that these stranded persons have faced great hardships in recent days when they had been going from pillar to post to find accommodation for their travel to Srinagar,” he added.

“I strongly urged the Union ministers and India’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia to organize repatriation of these stranded persons from Saudi Arabia back to their homes in Kashmir, immediately, so that the families concerned get relief after facing many hardships for several days, continuously,” said the statement by Prof Soz.