ALI SUKHANVER
“A few days back the Pakistan’s High Commission at New Delhi received an anonymous warning letter in which the staff members of the High commission were threatened seriously,” reported the Times of India last month. According to the details the staff members of the Pakistan’s High Commission raised the issue with Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs which ultimately discussed the matter with Indian authorities and requested an investigation into the threat-letter. The Indian authorities were also asked to increase the security at Pakistan’s embassy in New Delhi because according to the international rules and regulations it is the responsibility of the Indian government to ensure the protection of the Pakistani High Commission and its staff. Unfortunately nothing practical has yet been done to seek for the culprits who sent this threat-letter to Pakistan’s Embassy in India. A spokesman of the Indian government commented on the situation in a very casual way by saying, “We provide maximum possible security to all missions and same is the case with Pakistan.” The spokesman might be true in his statement but the dangers, risks and security hazards which the Pakistani diplomats in India have been facing since long are altogether alien to the diplomats from the other countries in India. The members of the staff at the Pakistan’s High-Commission at India have always been facing the ever-worst type of situation regarding their safety and security. Last year in the month of June whatever happened to Zargham Raza, the First Secretary of Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi, is one of the worst example of diplomatic insult and humiliation. According to the details he was attacked by allegedly ‘unknown’ motor-bikers when he was returning to his home in New Delhi. Zargham Raza and his driver got severely injured. Just after the incident the Pakistan High Commission asked the Indian government to increase the security of its personnel and to provide protection under Vienna convention. But the response to this demand was just an apologetic telephone call of India’s foreign secretary which he made to his counterpart in Islamabad.
The story does not stop here. It is not only the Pakistani diplomats in India who are facing life threats and mistreatments at the hands of the Hindu extremists, even the students from Pakistan also have to face the same risk and threat. It is something very astonishing that the members of the Pakistani High Commission received the threat-letter on 6th of May and on 13th of the same month a Pakistani student had to face physical maltreatment at the hands of some unknown, unidentified attackers. According to the details Mr. Ali Raza, a twenty four years old Pakistani student of international relations was sleeping in his hostel room when three unidentified men entered his room and attacked him with steel rods. At the arrival of the nearby students the attackers disappeared from the scene. The injuries were so severe that Ali Raza first had to be rushed to Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences and then shifted to Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research.
It is something very strange that on one hand the government of Pakistan, under the command and guidance of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Miyan Nawaz Sharif, is doing every possible effort for the promotion of cordial relationship with India but at the same time the Hindu extremists are doing everything possible to spoil and damage Pakistan’s positive efforts. Now the ball is in the court of Mr. Modi. It is very much true that he belongs to a Hindu extremist party which has always been a symbol of ‘hatred against Muslims’ and Mr. Modi himself had been using ‘Hate-Pakistan card’ for winning the elections but the chances of betterment are always there. If Mr. Modi adopts the peace-track devised by Mr. Nawaz Sharif, things shall soon take a positive change. Peace is the basic and the most fundamental requirement of the time; without peace situation would be agonizingly painful and disastrous for both the countries.