If you think having a green passport abroad is bad, you should think about being an ordinary Pakistani at Jinnah Terminal.
I’ve been sniffed by dogs, asked to remove my shoes, been randomly radio tested for explosives, questioned by immigration officers and the list goes on.
After travelling to 26 countries, I have realised that being a Pakistani is not easy when it comes to airport immigration and security clearance.
I imagined that at least in a Pakistani airport, I would have some respite. But I was so wrong.
My worst airport experience was at Karachi’s own Quaid-e-Azam International airport a few weeks ago. I reached the airport at 9pm to catch an 11pm flight and felt dismayed that I would be bored at the airport lounge waiting for my flight. Little did I know that I would end up running to catch my flight to avoid missing it.
First after what seemed like pointless questions and an unprofessional scuffle through my baggage, I finally cleared baggage security. Meanwhile, as most of us went through the usual ordeal, I saw some passengers bypassing the queues and security formalities assisted by ‘airport officials.’ They managed to go though security as if they were celebrities at a movie premieres.
Next, I came towards my airline counter and waited to be checked in. There was quite a long line and I patiently waited for my turn. While I had once thought that only civil servants abused their power, here I saw airline officials helping their relatives and acquaintances check in without even making them join the line. They were asked to sit while officials took their documents and issued them boarding cards and baggage tags. The best part was that their bags weren’t even weighed, while other ordinary passengers were harassed if their bag was even a kilogram over the limit. I learned that individuals in both the public and the private sector abuse their power, but the worst was still to come.
At the passport immigration line, I witnessed an attitude I had never seen before. I could hear the announcement asking passengers for my flight to board the aircraft and I was still in line! I frantically excused myself and apologised, waving my boarding card and cut the queue to get to the counter. Five minutes before my flight took off, I cleared immigration and rushed to inner security. It had taken me two hours to clear regular security.
I rushed towards the last security checkpoint before boarding the aircraft and after going through the normal procedure, I was surprised by a security officer, who asked me to switch on my laptop. I pleaded with him to let me go, as my flight was making its final boarding call, but he wouldn’t listen. I switched it on and as soon as the operating system loaded, he simply said “Okay, thank you,” and that was that!
I finally entered the aircraft several minutes late. To my shock, half the plane was empty. I had completely ignored the possibility that other passengers were also stuck with me in airport clearance formalities. The flight took off after a forty minute delay.
Now, I am happy to follow whatever I am told at any airport in the rest of the world; be it in the US, Australia, UK or Singapore. At least everyone waits their turn in line, no one is given the unfair advantage to jump queues and pass security and the system is much faster, even at bigger airports where there are more passengers. Being a Pakistani, I feel deprived at my own country’s airport-how can I complain about other countries?
Be Careful at the Airports, This is a well organized conspiracy by Immigration, Police, Customs and Airline staff with networking at all International Airports. Be careful when ever you give your passport to Immigration/Customs/Airline staff. The pass port can be easily tampered and can create trouble to you. They have found an easy way of making money. This is the way it works:
At the time of the passenger’s departure, if the passenger is not looking at the officer while he is stamping the exit, the officer very cleverly tears away one of the page from the passport. When the passenger leaves the immigration counter, the case is reported on his computer terminal with full details. Now all over the country they have got full details of the passenger with Red Flag flashing on the Passport number entered by the departure immigration officer. They have made their money by doing above.
On arrival next time, he is interrogated.
Subject to the passenger’s period of stay abroad, his income and standing etc., the price to get rid of the problem is settled by the Police and Immigration people. If someone argues, his future is spoiled because there are always some innocent fellows who think the honesty is the basis of getting justice.
Please advise every passenger to be careful at the airports. Whenever they hand over the passport to the counters of Airlines or immigration or the customs, they must be vigilant, should not remove eyes from the passport even if the officer in front tries to divert their attention.
Also, please pass this information to all friends, media men and important politicians. Every month 20-30 cases are happening all over the world to rob the passenger the minute he lands. A similar case happened with Aramco’s Arifuddin in Pakistan. He was travelling with his family. They had six passports. They got the visa of America and decided to go via Jeddah. When they reached the States, the page of the American visa on his wife’s passport was missing. At the time of departure from Pakistan it was there, the whole family had to return helplessly. On arrival at Pakistan, they were caught by the police and now it is over 2 months, they are running after the Police, Immigration officers and the Courts. On going in to details with him, he found out the following: One cannot imagine, neither can believe, that the Immigration dept can play such a nasty game to harass the innocent passengers.
All the airlines passengers must be aware of this conspiracy. Every month 15 to 20 cases are taking place, at each mentioned airport, of holding the passengers in the crime of tearing away the passport pages. On interviewing some of them, none of them was aware of what had happened. They don’t know why, when and who tore away the page from the middle of the passport. One can imagine the sufferings of such people at the hands of the immigration, police and the court procedures after that. The number of cases has increased in the last 2-3 years. People who are arriving at the immigration, they are questioned and their passports are being held and they have to go in for detailed interrogation. Obviously, the conspiracy started about 2 to 3 years ago, now the results are coming. Some of the Airline counter staff too is involved in this conspiracy.
SO MAKE SURE NOT TO LET THE PASSPORT GO OFF YOUR SIGHT EVEN FOR A SECOND. THE IMMIGRATION COUNTERS ARE HIGH AND TIRED AND SHORT PASSENGERS REALLY HAVE TO WORK HARD TO KEEP THE PASSPORT IN SIGHT, SPEACIALLY AFTER THE EXHAUSTING JOURNEY, EVERYONE WANTS TO GET OVER WITH THE AIRPORT FORMALITIES AND GO HOME. SO BEING VIGILANT FOR AN EXTRA MINUTE WILL SAVE YOU A LIFE TIME OF MISERY. BEST OF LUCK IN YOUR TRAVELS. REMEMBER: WITH CONDITIONS AT PRESENT IN PAKISTAN ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IN THIS LAND OF THE PURE……. SAD INDEED
This is a list of names of innocent children killed by America’s drones
But behind each name there is the face of a child with a family history in a village in a far away country, with a mom and a dad, with brothers and sisters and friends.
Among the list, are infants of 1, 2, 3 and 4 years old.
In some cases brothers and sisters of an entire family are killed.
Four sisters of the Ali Mohammed Nasser family in Yemen were killed. Afrah was 9 years old when she and her three younger sisters Zayda (7 years old) , Hoda (5 years old) and Sheika (4 years old) were struck by an American drone.
Ibrahim, a 13 year old boy of the Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye family in Yemen was struck by a US drone, together with his younger brother Asmaa (9 years old) and two younger sisters, Salma (4 years old) and Fatima (3 years old)
These children are innocent. They are not different from our own children.
Their lives were taken away at a very young age as part of a military agenda, which claims to be combating “international terrorism”
These drone attacks are extremely precise. We are not dealing with “collateral damage”.
Drone operators have the ability of viewing from a computer screen their targets well in advance of a strike.
A family home is referred to as a “structure” or a “building” rather than a house. When they target a home with family members, they kill children. And they know that in advance of the drone strike:
“Bryant saw a flash on the screen: the explosion. Parts of the building collapsed. The child had disappeared. Bryant had a sick feeling in his stomach.
“Did we just kill a kid?” he asked the man sitting next to him.
“Yeah, I guess that was a kid,” the pilot replied.
These children were killed on the orders of the US President and Commander in Chief Barack H. Obama.
The commander in chief sets the military agenda and authorizes these killings to proceed.
The killings were quite deliberate. They are categorized as “crimes against humanity” under international law.
Those who ordered these drone killings, including the president of the United States, are war criminals under international law and must be indicted and prosecuted
It should be noted that the drone attacks on civilians have increased dramatically during the Obama presidency (see below).
Total US strikes: 362 Obama strikes: 310 Total reported killed: 2,629-3,461 Civilians reported killed: 475-891 Children reported killed: 176 Total reported injured: 1,267-1,431
Total confirmed US operations (all): 54-64 Total confirmed US drone strikes: 42-52 Possible extra US operations: 135-157 Possible extra US drone strikes: 77-93 Total reported killed (all): 374-1,112 Total civilians killed (all): 72-177 Children killed (all): 27-37
This map details the locations of CIA drone strikes in the remote Pakistani tribal areas.
Partial List of Children Killed
PAKISTAN
Name | Age | Gender Noor Aziz | 8 | male Abdul Wasit | 17 | male Noor Syed | 8 | male Wajid Noor | 9 | male Syed Wali Shah | 7 | male Ayeesha | 3 | female Qari Alamzeb | 14| male Shoaib | 8 | male Hayatullah KhaMohammad | 16 | male Tariq Aziz | 16 | male Sanaullah Jan | 17 | male Maezol Khan | 8 | female Nasir Khan | male Naeem Khan | male Naeemullah | male Mohammad Tahir | 16 | male Azizul Wahab | 15 | male Fazal Wahab | 16 | male Ziauddin | 16 | male Mohammad Yunus | 16 | male Fazal Hakim | 19 | male Ilyas | 13 | male Sohail | 7 | male Asadullah | 9 | male khalilullah | 9 | male Noor Mohammad | 8 | male Khalid | 12 | male Saifullah | 9 | male Mashooq Jan | 15 | male Nawab | 17 | male Sultanat Khan | 16 | male Ziaur Rahman | 13 | male Noor Mohammad | 15 | male Mohammad Yaas Khan | 16 | male Qari Alamzeb | 14 | male Ziaur Rahman | 17 | male Abdullah | 18 | male Ikramullah Zada | 17 | male Inayatur Rehman | 16 | male Shahbuddin | 15 | male Yahya Khan | 16 |male Rahatullah |17 | male Mohammad Salim | 11 | male Shahjehan | 15 | male Gul Sher Khan | 15 | male Bakht Muneer | 14 | male Numair | 14 | male Mashooq Khan | 16 | male Ihsanullah | 16 | male Luqman | 12 | male Jannatullah | 13 | male Ismail | 12 | male Taseel Khan | 18 | male Zaheeruddin | 16 | male Qari Ishaq | 19 | male Jamshed Khan | 14 | male Alam Nabi | 11 | male Qari Abdul Karim | 19 | male Rahmatullah | 14 | male Abdus Samad | 17 | male Siraj | 16 | male Saeedullah | 17 | male Abdul Waris | 16 | male Darvesh | 13 | male Ameer Said | 15 | male Shaukat | 14 | male Inayatur Rahman | 17 | male Salman | 12 | male Fazal Wahab | 18 | male Baacha Rahman | 13 | male Wali-ur-Rahman | 17 | male Iftikhar | 17 | male Inayatullah | 15 | male Mashooq Khan | 16 | male Ihsanullah | 16 | male Luqman | 12 | male Jannatullah | 13 | male Ismail | 12 | male Abdul Waris | 16 | male Darvesh | 13 | male Ameer Said | 15 | male Shaukat | 14 | male Inayatur Rahman | 17 | male Adnan | 16 | male Najibullah | 13 | male Naeemullah | 17 | male Hizbullah | 10 | male Kitab Gul | 12 | male Wilayat Khan | 11 | male Zabihullah | 16 | male Shehzad Gul | 11 | male Shabir | 15 | male Qari Sharifullah | 17 | male Shafiullah | 16 | male Nimatullah | 14 | male Shakirullah | 16 | male Talha | 8 | male YEMEN Afrah Ali Mohammed Nasser | 9 | female Zayda Ali Mohammed Nasser | 7 | female Hoda Ali Mohammed Nasser | 5 | female Sheikha Ali Mohammed Nasser | 4 | female Ibrahim Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 13 | male Asmaa Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 9 | male Salma Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 4 | female Fatima Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 3 | female Khadije Ali Mokbel Louqye | 1 | female Hanaa Ali Mokbel Louqye | 6 | female Mohammed Ali Mokbel Salem Louqye | 4 | male Jawass Mokbel Salem Louqye | 15 | female Maryam Hussein Abdullah Awad | 2 | female Shafiq Hussein Abdullah Awad | 1 | female Sheikha Nasser Mahdi Ahmad Bouh | 3 | female Maha Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 12 | male Soumaya Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 9 | female Shafika Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 4 | female Shafiq Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 2 | male Mabrook Mouqbal Al Qadari | 13 | male Daolah Nasser 10 years | 10 | female AbedalGhani Mohammed Mabkhout | 12 | male Abdel- Rahman Anwar al Awlaki | 16 | male Abdel-Rahman al-Awlaki | 17 | male Nasser Salim | 19
Nawaz Sharif’s black face is now visible after Sheikh Rasheed’s incidence. The war of bulls in Punjab struck us badly. First it was Salman Taseer who was busy in toppling Punjab Government when Sri Lankan team visited Lahore and he shamefully reduced their security to give chance to the terrorists to attack the Lankans and completely dry our land from staging any international sporting event. Secondly, the attack on Shaikh Rasheed is another coward act.
I still weep on Nawaz Shareef’s coward act during Kargil war when he pulled back the forces at the turning point of war which would have resolved Kashmir issue once and for all. Now due to that retreat India is punishing us by drying our rivers by building many dams on our waters. Shame on the coward leader like Shareef.
[SHOCKING] When did PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif bought London Mayfair (Park Lane) Apartments?
WAKE UP PAKISTAN. IDENTIFY THOSE POLITICIANS WHO ARE LYING TO YOU!
Reader Chali Questions to Sharif about his assets and his properties.
The questions were:__ ____
1. Raymond Baker, an international renowned author, wrote in his book that Nawaz Sharif did corruption worth $417 million. The book says that Nawaz Sharif took a commission of $160 million from Daewoo for the motorway which was recently made. If Baker had made a false allegation, then why did you not initiate a case against him?__ __
2. You bought four apartments in Mayfair worth more than Rs1 billion. Now their value has gone up to Rs4.5 billion. Where did you get the money from?__ __
3. In 1994, you stated your income as Rs150,000 and you gave a tax of Rs14,000. If this is your income, then how did you buy a property in Mayfair?_
4. You took a loan from Al Taufiq Bank worth $30 million and then you defaulted it. They took you to court and attached your property. From where did you get the money to pay back those $30 million?__ __
5. Ishaq Dar gave an affidavit saying that Nawaz Sharif did money laundering by opening a fictitious account by the name of Qazi family in London. The BBC did a film on that too.__ __
6. You took a loan worth Rs6 billion from Pakistani banks and you had them defaulted.
Did you return back the loan?__ __
Malik
What they have been able to deliver.
1) 2000 Elite Guards for Sharif Family……………………………….. Yes 2) Controls over Sugar Prices by Sharif Family Industries. ……….Yes 3) Extra Judicial Killings. …………………………………………….Yes. 4) Riwand Road for Sharif Family………………………………….. Yes. 5) Laptop Purchase from Hamza Shabaz Friend. …………………Yes 6) Gas Pipe Line to Humza’s Cottage instead of town . …………….Yes. 7) 32 Billion Stolen from Punjab Budget No reply for 3 years Auditor General Punjab. Yes 8) Billions syphoned off in Sasta Rotti Scheme………………………. Yes 9) Danish Schools contract to Hamza’s Friend……………………… Yes 10) Model Homes Scheme to Malik Raiz………………………….. Yes 11) Bullet Proof Car from Malik Raiz to Hamza …………………….. Yes
Pakistan’s Tribal Code is based on an Eye-for-an-Eye. Drone strikes have taken the zeal for revenge almost to a psychosis. US must stop and think, that one drone strike adds more to the ranks of Taliban. It is a vicious circle and its US ego versus Pahtunwali.
Lahore.
It’s been a decade when the US invaded Afghanistan with the world’s most modern and well-trained military force including troops of more than 40 countries equipped with latest weaponry. After spending a large span of ten years and billions of dollars, the US and its allies are not in a position to claim that they have completely taken over the control of Afghanistan. The recent attacks of Taliban on the US, British, German and Japanese embassies and the NATO headquarters in Kabul are evident that the foreign forces led by the US are unable to protect themselves and they are so vulnerable even in their stronghold that happens to be the capital of Afghanistan as well. The incident is not the only one of its kind but it is one of the incidents that occur almost every month in Kabul or in other cities of the war-hit country.
It’s a fact that the US and its allies cannot stay in Afghanistan without Pakistan’s support. Had Pakistan not provided its soil to the US-led NATO forces to invade Afghanistan, the history would have been written in a very different manner. From day one, Pakistan is working as a frontline ally of the US in the war on terror and they also have a history of healthy mutual relations. But now their relationship has come to a point where both of the allies are revisiting their terms of engagement with each other. Opinion makers and parliamentarians in Pakistan feel that the drone attacks inside Pakistani territory are fuelling hatred against America. This has also been conveyed to the US administration many times that these attacks are affecting the public opinion in Pakistan negatively.
The statistics show that civilian casualties during the drone attacks are more than double as compared to the number of militants that were killed by this unmanned weapon. Even many innocent children have lost their lives due to these attacks. The civilian killings are really condemnable and they are totally unacceptable, no matter you call it collateral damage or what. Even the US administration knows that the attacks are against the international law as they are killing the innocents more in number. Besides hatred against the US, these attacks have become a source for the promotion of militant ideology in the areas where they have killed women and innocent children. Instead of chasing the militants with drones, if the US had spent even half of the amount, that it had invested into the drone technology for the Afghan-bordering areas of Pakistan, to promote education, the scenario would have been very different today.
The recent drone attack on a girls’ high school in North Waziristan’s Miranshah area is first of its kind as it has hit an educational institution. Had it been a working day the damage could be far more than expectation. This incident could become another bone of contention between the two countries as Pakistan’s Foreign Office has condemned the attacked and has termed it as the violation of country’s sovereignty. The FO also summoned Political Counsellor of the US Embassy in Islamabad Jonathon Pratt and registered its protest with him. This kind of attacks and violations of the international law and Pakistan’s sovereignty might become a big trouble for the US and the NATO forces in the days to come.
An important summit of all the stake holders in Afghanistan is going to be held on 20 and 21 of this month to discuss the withdrawal of NATO troops from the war-torn country starting in the start of 2014. If the US administration did not realise that the drone attacks are not helpful for them and if such strikes continued, it might not be possible for Pakistan to participate in the NATO conference. In the recent months, Pakistan has already boycotted a very important meeting regarding the fate of Afghanistan in Bonn, Germany, after an airstrike by the NATO helicopters on a check post killing 28 Pakistani soldiers. Moreover, the future drone strikes could also halt the possibilities of reopening of the NATO supply line in Pakistan.
Atif K. Butt is a Lahore-based journalist and can be accessed at[email protected].
