Islamabad :
The Prime Minister had said in a video link to officers posted in 19 countries that he had seen “shocking indifference” on the part of Pakistani diplomats stationed overseas. Officers are outraged after accusations of “colonial mentality” and ruthlessness in dealing with immigrants.
He was particularly critical of diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have a large overseas Pakistani community, but as stated, he seemed to condemn the entire Foreign Service.
Addressing the officers, the Prime Minister said, “Indifference is unforgivable and unacceptable. Leave your colonial mentality and treat immigrants well.”
The prime minister’s statement came after the government suspended Raja Ijaz, the ambassador to Saudi Arabia, for not serving the Pakistani community properly and for incompetence, and for repatriating six diplomats, including him.
The prime minister’s remarks sparked outrage among Foreign Service officials, who described the prime minister’s remarks as “discouraging”, with one official saying anger at the “humiliating statement” Also forced to speak.
There is no denying that people living overseas face problems at embassies, but speaking to Dawn, officials said the prime minister’s own presentation on these issues showed a lack of understanding and Relied solely on complaints rather than reviewing issues first.
As the present service officers could not respond publicly due to professional discipline, the former Foreign Secretaries took the initiative to condemn the Prime Minister’s remarks on social media.
Former Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua said in a Twitter message that she was “deeply disappointed” by the irresponsible criticism of the Foreign Ministry. Yes, there is very little understanding about them.
Another former foreign secretary, Salman Bashir, explained in a Twitter statement that “general services provided to the community fall under the purview of other departments that handle passport, NICOP (National Identity Card for Occupations) and consular verification matters.” ۔
Officials at the Foreign Office said there were structural causes behind the problems, and that a thorough and impartial investigation would make it clear that it was not just the Foreign Office but several government agencies that were inactive. Blaming the Foreign Office is tantamount to covering up real structural problems.
The Prime Minister himself said that most of the complaints were related to passports and identity cards which fall under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
A Pakistani ambassador posted abroad said, “Officers with machine readable passports and ID cards have their own problems. There are problems in their appointments, which are not done on merit, while Foreign Service officers are criticized.” Neither appoint them nor hold them accountable nor sign their performance report.
Most importantly, the Directorate General of Passports and NADRA officers are not trained to work in a foreign environment, most of them in bad temper and forcing complainants to come again and again, and in most cases of shortcomings, Officials use the ‘more rule’ button, which means that the applicant is a ‘no’ citizen of Pakistan, leaving thousands of Pakistanis stateless and having to spend huge sums of money to clear their names.
Similarly, making visas, identity cards and passports online also caused many problems.
Officials said that ordinary Pakistanis in the Middle East, Europe and even North America could not write English, let alone Urdu. You have pushed Pakistanis into the hands of the agent mafia, the majority of whom are Indians, Bengalis, Afghans and Pakistanis. Of course, Pakistanis abroad pay them huge sums of money and their information reaches enemy countries.
