What hurts is that Dr Hoodbhoy failed in crossing the barriers imposed by his own country.
CANBERRA: I fully agree with what Dr Hoodbhoy has said — about the troubles that Pakistanis face in obtaining an Indian visa. However, a lot of these measures are done by India as well. For example, if you are an Australian citizen but of Pakistani origin, and apply for an Indian visa from Australia, you are asked to fill out a separate form. This asks you for an address in Pakistan, and you have to provide something even if you have no address there (because you no longer lived there, or perhaps never lived there). The visa processing takes 45 days, which is much longer than that for Australians who are not of Pakistani origin.
When one applies for an India visa in Pakistan, there is not only the barrier imposed by the Indian high commission in terms of scrutiny of the application and all kinds of conditions but applicants also have to deal with the security and intelligence cordon around the high commission.
What hurts is that Dr Hoodbhoy failed in crossing the barriers imposed by his own country.
Munir A Saeed
Published in The Express Tribune, October 28th, 2011.
