Tuesday, Dec 31, 2002
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By B. Muralidhar Reddy
At the same time the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Aziz Ahmed Khan, described the statement made by the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, C. Vidyasagar Rao, as unfortunate and said such measures would only create problems for ordinary people. Asked about the Minister's statement on the plans of the Indian Government to deport Pakistanis illegally staying in India, Mr. Khan said that it was the right of any sovereign country to deport those staying without valid visas. "Pakistan would do the same irrespective of the nationality of any person staying without a valid visa", he said. On Mr. Rao's announcement that the Indian Government was planning to restrict the visit of Pakistanis to three Indian cities, he said that it was a bilateral matter and should be decided in consultation with Pakistan. The civil society of Pakistan was dismayed over the latest statement by the Indian Minister and sees it as yet another attempt by the Vajpayee Government to restrict people-to-people contact between India and Pakistan. Since September 11, 2001, and the escalation of tension between the two countries, not only has New Delhi cut off its links with all segments of the society in Pakistan but also discouraged people of Pakistan from visiting India. The number of visas granted to Pakistanis had come down drastically. The state of affairs on the visa front can be gauged from the fact that Asma Jehengir, noted lawyer and human rights activist, Mubashir Hasan, the former Finance Minister and track two activist, I.A. Rehman, the Director of Pakistan Human Rights Commission, and Pervez Hoodboy, a well-known academic, are waiting for Indian visas. "The four are pillars of the civil society of Pakistan. In Pakistan they are taunted as Indian agents and if this is the approach of India towards them, one wonders what chance an ordinary Pakistani has of visiting India'', observed a noted Pakistani editor.
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