(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Amid countrywide protests, Pakistan has set up a ministerial committee to suggest relief efforts and craft a role that the South Asian Muslim country can play for Rohingya Muslims.
The committee comprises the country's outspoken Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, National Security Advisor and head of foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz, and Prime Minister's special assistant on foreign affairs, Tariq Fatemi, a statement issued by the Interior Ministry said on Saturday.
The committee will meet on Sunday to deliberate on the issue of Rohingya Muslims and evaluate Pakistan's role in alleviating their misery, the statement added.
Chaudhry Nisar, who earlier this month drew Egyptian government's ire after he declared the death sentence to Egypt's first democratically-elected President Mohammed Morsi "murder of democracy", criticized the international community for its inaction and "criminal silence" over the massacre of Rohingya Muslims.
"The silence of such bodies raises serious questions about the utility and effectiveness of international forums that proclaim themselves as upholders, defenders and promoters of human rights and democratic values," Nisar said in the statement.
He added that the ignorance and silence of international community, especially the United Nations and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), would nullify the efforts aimed at weaning away the Muslim youths from falling into the hands of militant groups.
Pakistan's mainstream religious and political parties have held several protests across the country in last two weeks against massacre of Rohingya Muslims.
Photos and posts highlighting the miseries of Rohingya Muslims have gone viral on social media as common citizens, especially youths, share such posts while criticizing rich Muslim countries for not playing their role, and appreciating Turkey for its contributions.
The Pakistani government had earlier expressed its solidarity with Rohingya, but this is the first practical step, an indication that protests might have been influential.
Thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants have been stranded at sea since Thailand launched an anti-trafficking crackdown May 1 after discovering the bodies of dozens of migrants near its border with Malaysia.
After initially turning back boatloads of migrants, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to take Rohingya in for one year, ascertaining which are asylum seekers and which are economic migrants, on the condition that the international community then resettle them.
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