The COVID pandemic and the resulting suspension of international flights to and from Pakistan has left many tens of thousands of Pakistanis stranded in foreign lands. It is during times such as these that our citizens rely on the services of Pakistan’s missions abroad to facilitate and support them in any way possible. In this context, I would like to share a personal experience that I encountered in my visit this week to our High Commission in Colombo. The visit prompted me to write a letter to the Foreign Secretary, Ambassador Sohail Mahmood to bring my experience to his attention. The letter, which is reproduced below, is a call for enhancing the responsiveness and empathy of our missions with citizens abroad:
“Dear Sohail Sahib, I am writing this missive less as a complaint rather more as a request to review and improve performance and delivery at the Colombo High Commission. Briefly, I would like to share with you my experience during a visit there today (30 June 2020):
I needed to issue a power of attorney to someone in Pakistan to pursue certain court matters on my behalf in Pakistan during my presence here in Sri Lanka. This is a standard document drafted by my lawyer. All that is needed is that I sign the POA document in the presence of the Counselor who then signs and puts the High Commission stamp on the document as verification that he has witnessed my signing. It is a simple matter that should not take more than a few minutes to complete
I was asked to be at the High Commission at 1.30 pm to meet the Counselor, Mr Malik Waseem Akram. When I arrived, I was told that Mr Akram and his deputy had gone to a local hotel. I should wait and they will be back shortly. After waiting for some time, I was approached by a junior officer who told me that Mr Akram would not be back until Thursday (2nd July). The junior officer asked me to show him the document I needed to get verified. He then told me that I needed the following additional information: Passport size photos of me and the attorney, attested NIC copy of the attorney, attested NIC copies and presence of two Pakistani witnesses at the Colombo High Commission.
As a seasoned diplomat, you can appreciate how absurd these demands are. All that is being asked for is a verification of my signature. As far as witnesses are concerned: Where am I, a foreigner in a foreign land, going to find two Pakistanis and bring them to the High Commission?! I suggested to the junior official that he could easily have two members of the Commission staff witness my signature. I explained also to the officer that none of the information he was asking for was needed to verify my signature. But he was not flexible.
I then talked to the lady at reception – a charming and very polite Sri Lankan named Shirani – I asked Shirani to check with the Deputy HC, Mr Tanvir Ahmad if I could have a few moments of his time. She asked me to wait while she checked with him. A few moments later I was told that Mr Ahmad was not willing to meet me and that his message to me was that I bring all the documents I had been asked for, and my work would be done.
So, after spending two fruitless hours at the High Commission I left without the needed attestation, work that would have taken only a few moments at any of Pakistan’s missions in North America or Europe.
I should also mention that I am staying in a town that is a two-hour drive from Colombo. The cost of car hire for this trip is about LKR 10,000. Alhamdullilah, I am fortunate that this amount, for a fruitless trip to the HC, does not have any financial impact for me. But please consider what happens to relatively poor Pakistanis who travel long distances to the High Commission paying sums of money that are significant for them only to find a stone wall and no empathy or flexibility to help them in a foreign land. For the poor, this is not only a financial loss but a moral let down. My prayer to you is to please review what is happening in Colombo. It seems that there is staff posted there at the senior level who do not know that diplomats are meant to serve, facilitate and empathize with Pakistanis who find themselves in a foreign land with limited resources and nowhere to turn to except their embassy.
You no doubt are aware of the fake pilots’ scandal that is bringing shame and disgrace to Pakistan around the world. After my visit to the Colombo High commission today, I fear that there may be a fake diplomats scandal lurking in the wings. Regards.”
My experience in Colombo is not unique. There is a tendency in our bureaucracy in general to find a reason to impede and delay the work of citizens by, for example in my case, insisting on producing redundant unnecessary documents and attestations. Our bureaucrats must be taught that they are servants of the people who pay their salaries. Their job is to use their intelligence to facilitate and assist not to prospect deep into their policy manuals to dig out a reason for not helping.
It is important that this apathy towards people in need by our bureaucracy, in general, be addressed at the highest levels of government. Government is there to serve the people. Not the other way around.
The writer is Chairman of Mustaqbil Pakistan