‘Corruption, VISA Refusal, Inadequate VISA Period’ – How Islamabad Indian Consulate Is Failing Pakistani Hindus
Hindu Empowerment Office today received an update today that the Indian consulate in Pakistan is issuing VISA to Pakistani Hindus for a period of only 5 days, which he said is inadequate. The reason being it takes a minimum of three weeks or 20 days for a Hindu in Pakistan to cover the essential pilgrimage which his family plans for India. Pakistani Hindus wants to visit Amritsar-Delhi-Surat-Mumbai and Uttarakhand areas and there are legitimate reasons for this demand, many Hindus from Karachi are staunch followers of Sai Baba, whose holy pilgrimage site is based out of Shridi in Maharashtra, many makes a certain trip to holy Sikh site of Golden Temple in Amritsar, many have close relatives in Gujarat cities who migrated to India during the partition and chose Gujarat as homeland.
The most pained Hindus are those who accumulate the ‘Aasthiya’ – the sacred ash from the ‘Antim Sanskar’ – the ‘last sacrifice’, funeral rites of a person for years with a wish to immerse them in the holy Ganges or other sacred rivers in India. The 5 day VISA is insufficient for any Hindu pilgrim to visit Hardwar or Rishikesh areas or Narmada , Godavari rivers for completion of the ‘Antim Sanskar’. Such insensitivity towards Hindu religious sentiments is unfortunate, and that too in an era in which Indian PM Narendra Modi and his Government is making all effort to bring comfort to the Hindus of Pakistan.
The overseas Indian consulates comes under Ministry of External affairs whose current supremo is Smt. Sushma Swaraj, she should intervene immediately in the deterioting system of Indian consulate in Pakistan, this injustice originating from Islamabad Indian consulate which reports to MEA India is only causing harm to the goodwill and trust Pakistani Hindus have in PM Narendra Modi Government. Though PM Modi may not be aware of such issues, Hon. Minister of External affairs – Smt. Sushma Swaraj must recognize and fix these issues at her earliest , her proactive and prompt response and intervention acts on Twitter in helping Pakistani Muslims procuring medical Visas is globally appreciated, her recent act of taking the issue of Sikh forcible conversion (Post Punjab CM, Capt. Amrinder Singh tweet) to the highest Pakistan authority level is so good, likewise she should have some concern and compassion for Pakistani Hindus also and must set her own house (Islamabad Indian consulate) in good shape, making it accessible, affordable and accommodative for Hindus and their religious requirements. Hindu empowerment office wrote to MEA office in Delhi on alleged corrupt practices (agents charging Rs. 15000 as commission for certain Visas only from Hindus) in Islamabad Indian consulate, but no action we saw from MEA India.
Ref: http://www.rahulchandrasharma.com/2018/01/06/heowwasiapakistanislamabadindianembassy/
Islamabad Indian consulate officers and decision makers – Mr. Ajay Bisaria, Mr. J.P Singh, Mr. Gaurav Ahliealia, Mr. Soumyakanta Behera, Mr. Sandip Kumar Kujur must set up a system and policy which provides a fair length VISA to Pakistani Hindus. They should make sure that external agents don’t charge commissions and exploit Pakistani Hindus and must make a press statement or issue a circular condemning such practices and firewalling contact of external VISA brokers with consulate officers.
All four officers must set up a committee to investigate and check who is allied with such external agents and in what capacity. There has been reports in Indian media on honey trapping of certain staff by Pakistani ISI agency, many were called back to India.
It’s very unfortunate to observe that with consistent religious persecution, Pakistani Hindus are forced to face financial percecution at the behest of certain corrupt officials of Islamabad Indian consulate – which reports to MEA India. It should be clear that the author is not pointing to the above four listed officials as corrupt.
There are several issues Hindus in Pakistan are facing from Islamabad Indian consulate, one is the rejection ratio of Hindus is comparatively high than the Pakistani Muslims, as per the authors recent talks with Pakistani Hindu refugees in Rajasthan, 90 % inflow into India are Pakistani Muslims and only 10% are Pakistani Hindus. Second, the short Visa lengths of 5 days is not sufficient for any Hindu to complete a good pilgrimage at Hindu holy sites in India, third, the alleged corruption practices that certain officers of Indian consulate in Islamabad are syndicated with external unofficial agents and are referring Hindus to external agents who charge Rs. 15000 – Rs. 20000 as fee for certain VISA gurantee, commission money is later given to certain Indian consulate officers. This is very demoralizing for Hindus of Pakistan and is causing great inconvenience to Hindus of Pakistan and their families both in India and Pakistan.
There is still an opportunity for MEA India and it’s consulate in Islamabad to adhere to the pro Pakistan Hindus philosophy of NDA – BJP led government and help Hindu brothers and sisters in Pakistan in their best capacity. Taken for granted attitude will not be accepted and will not sustain as India’s geo political situation is fast changing and this appalling legacy of Islamabad Indian consulate is working against the political philosophy of NDA – BJP led government of Indian PM Narendra Modi.
An open letter of appeal from Pakistan Hindu Seva director. Its important to know that here Pakistan Hindu Seva letter is seeking Visa extension, the other comments and opinions by the author in this article are mutually exclusive. The author’s office receives information from multiple sources based out of India and overseas and not just Pakistan Hindu Seva. This piece of data was captured on Hindu Empowerment Office Hindu media receptors and is not exclusively sent to Hindu Empowerment Office.
The writer – Mr. Rahul Chandra Sharma is the global director of Pakistan Hindu Refugee Relief program – https://pakhindurefugeerelief.wordpress.com .
The program is a forum of multiple USA and India based NGO’s and activits who help Pakistani Hindus in India and Pakistan. He can be contacted at office.rahulchandrasharma@gmail.com