India wake up;; you don't need to treat your ex PM like this..
Gujral gets ‘humiliating’ welcome in India
By Mariana Baabar
ISLAMABAD: Former Indian prime minister IK Gujral and noted journalist Kuldip Nayyar were reportedly given a "humiliating" welcome at the Wagha check-post on their return to India.
Indian officials, according to reports from New Delhi, have already initiated an inquiry as to why such eminent personalities were made to stand in a long queue to complete routine formalities.
The two Indians were returning home after a two-day visit to Lahore where they participated in a conference on South Asia for Human Rights. They have lodged a protest against the mistreatment meted out to them by their own bureaucracy.
While this might have been for the first time that they had to face such discourtesy at the hands of the Indian staff at the check post, this is something a routine matter for the ordinary citizens.
Gujral remarked that if the immigration staff could do this to a former prime minister, "I wonder what would be the fate of a common man with their arrogant behaviour". Nayyar said it was an unfortunate episode, which demonstrated that Indian officials were not friendly at the international border and lacked courtesy.
Apart from this humiliation, no leader from the ruling party or district official was present at the check-post to receive the former prime minister. Indians routinely face such humiliations not only at the Wagha check-post but also at the Rajasansi airport and Atari railway station.
Several Pakistanis returning home by the land route also complained at the manner the bureaucracy works on this side of the border too, at times with more time spent at immigration and customs than the journey itself.
On the other hand one sees important Western personalities, like US Ambassador to Pakistan Nancy Powell, who travelled back to Islamabad from New Delhi on Thursday. Devoid of any security or protocol, Ambassador Powell was seen taking her luggage off the ramp and filling in several forms once she arrived at the Lahore airport. At Islamabad also while some ASF officials hovered around her, she once again got her own luggage and left the airport unnoticed. |
