A special FIA ‘welcome’
Immigration officers need to be trained for serving the public
The writer, a former editor of The Express Tribune, is director of the Centre for Excellence in Journalism at IBA, Karachi. He tweets @tribunian
One is shocked to see how over eight Federal Investigation agency (FIA) officials tackled one unarmed, possibly inebriated, passenger over what FIA claims was his abusive behaviour at the Jinnah Airport in Karachi earlier this week.
A video, which has gone viral, shows the passenger being beaten in front of other people standing in immigration lines and then dragged away for his actions. His possible crime? That he was abusive to passengers and FIA staff. Well done FIA. The last time one checked, security issues at the airport were the purview of the Airport Security Force. Since when has the FIA taken over this charge as well?
One is reminded of another incident barely a year back in Islamabad where two women were trashed by female officers for an equally grave behaviour - she complained to one of them over the lack of toilet paper at the Benazir Bhutto Airport.
Nowhere in the world are passengers beaten for protesting poor service or for being drunk. There is a way to deal with abusive passengers and it is not to beat them up. Maybe FIA takes its cue from United Airlines.
Agreed that the maintenance of toilets is the CAA’s responsibility. At which they do a terrible job. But the level of shamelessness of the FIA can be gauged from the fact that no one intervened during this thrashing. This also happened in Karachi.
On the FIA’s insistence without even inquiring, the police registered a case against the passengers in the Islamabad case. FIA’s initial inquiry stated that no such thrashing incident occurred. Then, after social media went abuzz with the video, a sham inquiry was launched.
Inquiry officer Additional Director Immigration Pervaiz Khan Umrani in his report blamed the passengers. Without any hint of apology, Umrani recommended a case against them. The report was sent to Director FIA Islamabad Zone Mazhar Kakakhel who sent it to the relevant Ministry. Things changed only when Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar also took notice of the incident and sought a report from the interior secretary and DG FIA in three days. After that, Chaudhry Nisar suspended the FIA officials involved.
This time round, the FIA director suspended shift in-charge inspector Muzamil Jatoi, sub-inspector Zakir Hussain and three constables, Attaullah Memon, Kashifuddin and Hamza, who were found involved in the incident.
Possibly the FIA director has learnt his lesson with how the Chief Justice dealt with the issue the last time and how recently he took action in the Air Safari case.
But the FIA itself continues to lie. In a letter issued by the FIA officials over the incident, it was stated that a 32-year-old passenger, Muhammad Umair, coming from Doha was ‘not in his senses’. The letter claimed that the passenger was “talking absurdly, abusing and being physically aggressive” when he arrived at the lounge at Karachi airport.
“He [Umair] physically misbehaved with passengers in the queue. When the staff tried to detain him to a separate room, he became desperate and went out of control.” This is not what can be seen in the video.
The FIA staff also sustained minor injuries in the process, the letter read. With eight persons tackling one unarmed men, if they also managed to get injured - this itself is cause for concern.
Unlike in the Islamabad incident, this time round the police showed some common sense in Karachi. A police official told the media that the FIA claimed that the passenger was in a drunken state, but this was written without taking a blood test. As the FIA did not pursue a follow-up from the police, the passenger was released.
But, who will be responsible for the damage this incident caused to Pakistan’s image in front of the eyes of the hundreds of people who witnessed this first hand at the immigration lounge?
There is a bigger issue here that needs to be addressed. To begin with, immigration should not be under an investigation agency. Second, the level of corruption that one hears about in the immigration wing seems to be unprecedented.
Immigration officers need to be trained for serving the public. Right now they act as bullies, ever ready to threaten or beat passengers who protest their behaviour. When we talk so passionately about the image of Pakistan, much of it has been tarnished by the FIA. They must be punished.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 30th, 2018.
A video, which has gone viral, shows the passenger being beaten in front of other people standing in immigration lines and then dragged away for his actions. His possible crime? That he was abusive to passengers and FIA staff. Well done FIA. The last time one checked, security issues at the airport were the purview of the Airport Security Force. Since when has the FIA taken over this charge as well?
One is reminded of another incident barely a year back in Islamabad where two women were trashed by female officers for an equally grave behaviour - she complained to one of them over the lack of toilet paper at the Benazir Bhutto Airport.
Nowhere in the world are passengers beaten for protesting poor service or for being drunk. There is a way to deal with abusive passengers and it is not to beat them up. Maybe FIA takes its cue from United Airlines.
Agreed that the maintenance of toilets is the CAA’s responsibility. At which they do a terrible job. But the level of shamelessness of the FIA can be gauged from the fact that no one intervened during this thrashing. This also happened in Karachi.
On the FIA’s insistence without even inquiring, the police registered a case against the passengers in the Islamabad case. FIA’s initial inquiry stated that no such thrashing incident occurred. Then, after social media went abuzz with the video, a sham inquiry was launched.
Inquiry officer Additional Director Immigration Pervaiz Khan Umrani in his report blamed the passengers. Without any hint of apology, Umrani recommended a case against them. The report was sent to Director FIA Islamabad Zone Mazhar Kakakhel who sent it to the relevant Ministry. Things changed only when Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar also took notice of the incident and sought a report from the interior secretary and DG FIA in three days. After that, Chaudhry Nisar suspended the FIA officials involved.
This time round, the FIA director suspended shift in-charge inspector Muzamil Jatoi, sub-inspector Zakir Hussain and three constables, Attaullah Memon, Kashifuddin and Hamza, who were found involved in the incident.
Possibly the FIA director has learnt his lesson with how the Chief Justice dealt with the issue the last time and how recently he took action in the Air Safari case.
But the FIA itself continues to lie. In a letter issued by the FIA officials over the incident, it was stated that a 32-year-old passenger, Muhammad Umair, coming from Doha was ‘not in his senses’. The letter claimed that the passenger was “talking absurdly, abusing and being physically aggressive” when he arrived at the lounge at Karachi airport.
“He [Umair] physically misbehaved with passengers in the queue. When the staff tried to detain him to a separate room, he became desperate and went out of control.” This is not what can be seen in the video.
The FIA staff also sustained minor injuries in the process, the letter read. With eight persons tackling one unarmed men, if they also managed to get injured - this itself is cause for concern.
Unlike in the Islamabad incident, this time round the police showed some common sense in Karachi. A police official told the media that the FIA claimed that the passenger was in a drunken state, but this was written without taking a blood test. As the FIA did not pursue a follow-up from the police, the passenger was released.
But, who will be responsible for the damage this incident caused to Pakistan’s image in front of the eyes of the hundreds of people who witnessed this first hand at the immigration lounge?
There is a bigger issue here that needs to be addressed. To begin with, immigration should not be under an investigation agency. Second, the level of corruption that one hears about in the immigration wing seems to be unprecedented.
Immigration officers need to be trained for serving the public. Right now they act as bullies, ever ready to threaten or beat passengers who protest their behaviour. When we talk so passionately about the image of Pakistan, much of it has been tarnished by the FIA. They must be punished.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 30th, 2018.