Thanks for the ingratitude

Much of the claims made by Umza regarding the circumstances of meeting Tahir are false

Too many times Pakistan has been shown ingratitude and disrespect in return for upholding the rights of foreign nationals. Instead of showing some gratitude for her repatriation to her home country, Indian national Uzma Ahmed chose to call Pakistan a “well of death”, conveniently forgetting all those who helped her fly back home. It was left to the Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who thanked not only the Pakistan Foreign Office but also the concerned judge for the manner in which they helped this Indian national return home despite troubled relations between the two countries.

While most of the Indian media went ahead to repeat some of the claims made by Ahmed, what is now emerging in parts of the press is how Uzma misrepresented her case repeatedly and how despite all these false claims, the Pakistani authorities took a humanitarian approach and ensured her safe passage home. Much of the claims made by Ahmed regarding the circumstances of her meeting with the man whom she was eventually married, Tahir, are false. In fact, it has now emerged that Tahir was forced by Uzma to deliberately lie to her brother, which became a sore point during the trial as well.

In all fairness, we need to question the role of the media in this affair. Why did the media on both sides not cross check the claims made by the woman and why did it not investigate further into who was at fault in this situation. What we have learnt is that it is easy to blame Pakistan for a number of shortcomings but what is needed is better quality of reporting to ensure that our country does not get a bad name, especially at a time when the people and government here did everything to ensure fair treatment. There was an overarching humanitarian spirit visible. The media on both sides fell for the stererotypes created about Pakistan and K-P province. There is a lesson in this affair which is to properly probe stories before giving them the prominence they deserve.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2017.

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