The FIA has also written a letter to The Sun to seek assistance with the investigation of the case. The letter said, “The aforesaid report and video prepared by The Sun in this regard do not match facts as unearthed by us, hence, we would like to have some substantial and concrete evidence from you in support of the above.”
The letter further said that the allegations leveled in The Sun’s story are of a very serious nature and need concrete evidence to prove the scam.
The UK-based tabloid The Sun had claimed that Lahore-based politician Abid Chaudhry was involved in a scam allowing Pakistani nationals into England under the garb of participants and officials accompanying the Pakistani Olympics delegation. The tabloid used Asad as an agent who managed to get a Pakistani passport allegedly on someone else’s particulars.
Chaudhry, recording his statement before the FIA on Saturday, rubbished all the claims and said that the video secretly recorded by Asad was a “planned drama”.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik had also denied in a press conference that the story was real and said that it was part of a conspiracy to malign Pakistan. He had also said that the government will ask the UK government to deport Asad so he can be tried in Pakistan.
COMMENTS (20)
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@Polpot: When has this Country ever acknowledged anything directed at them as true or possiblr flaw with their system ? They will keep up this drama until all avenues are close and then go all quiet !
"“The aforesaid report and video prepared by The Sun in this regard do not match facts as unearthed by us, hence, we would like to have some substantial and concrete evidence from you in support of the above.”" ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Obviously the same writer who is responding to India re the 26/11 dossiers provided by India. He further added that the Sun story was mere literature and the video evidence was fabricated.
@Gfin: ali asad is more patriotic aleast he tried to correct something in the system.
@Raj - USA: "My honest feeling is that this is a case of Passport fraud that happens in other countries also. However, as it involves Pakistan, everything is looked with suspicion and from the terrorism angle."
Probably true. But Pakistan's reaction is not typical of what you may find in other countries when such fraud comes to light: 1. Deny the fraud occurred. Not just some lowly brueaucrat but the Pakistani cabinet took a decision to sue "The Sun" for falsely accusing Pakistan of a scam. 2. Rehman Malik gave a statement that the politician named in The Sun article would not be arrested. 3. Instead of going after the ring leaders of this false passport scam, Pakistan goes after Ali Asad who helped the scam come to light.
It is this unwillingness to accept responsibility for problems and failure to take ownership to fix problems but rather be vindictive towards the whistleblower that hurts Pakistan more than the original problem itself. We saw the same story earlier with OBL and Shakil Afridi too and prior to that with the cricket spot fixing fiasco.
Typical Pakistani government standard practice of denial even when facts hit the face. We will shortly see that inimical "foreign hands" of Indians, the CIA and Israel are involved in concocting this story to defame Pakistan. Nothing ever changes with the Pak establishment.
My honest feeling is that this is a case of Passport fraud that happens in other countries also. However, as it involves Pakistan, everything is looked with suspicion and from the terrorism angle.
@gp65: Could not have agreed more with your response Gfin, as i hope Mods allow my comment to set the record straight, as this is not about hatred or hatefilled but about basic commonsense !
shooting the messenger or the whistle-blower for umpteenth time...nothing new for Pakistan.
@gp65: There is nothing hate filled about my comments, as it shows the real rational ! However its a charade that is changing daily and plenty of U turns too add to that more ridiculous statements from Politicians ! No where in the world are there politicians who are prone to making statements on basis that Pakistanis do, hence the attraction to see this charade being played out ! Remember the Cricket scandal and all the brave statements full of denials and innocence then ? Where did that led to?
We as a nation are corrupt to the core but we shout and scream and complain when someone points a finger at us highlighting our own corruption. I sometimes wish i was not a Pakistani!!!!!!
As I recall the British Ambassador said that they catch something like 4,000 fake visa's a year from Pakistan --- maybe Pakistan should track down and arrest those people -- better yet maybe Pakistan should at least attempt to fix the fake visa/passport problem. This reminds me a bit of the OBL debacle -- you prefer to shoot the messenger rather than listen to the message.
@Zameer: "I can’t believe anyone actually trusts news published by New corp papers."
It looks like GoP does believe the news. After all if the news was fake, what is the charge against Ali Asad?
@Gfin: "@gp65: @Hegdefunder: The govt of Pakistan has every right to go after The Sun’s agent Ali Asad. Your hate filled comments against Pakistan on every article don’t make an iota of a difference for the millions of patriotic Pakistanis."
First of all, I cannot speak for the other gentleman but I have never made a hatefilled comment against Pakistan - on this site or elsewhere.
Secondly, Pakistan knows very well that it has no extrdition treaty with UK and will be unable to extradite Ali Asad, hence this drama to placate those Pakistanis that are gullible (not all are by any means). There is not attempt to go after the politician and other bureaucrats who are running the fake passport scam that is bringing a bad name to Pakistan - how patriotic is that? Also remeber the Pakistan cabinet had decided to sue The Sun by stating that the supposed fake passport issue did not occur. If that is the case, what is the charge on Ali Asad?
Instead of dismissing all rational statements as either coming from "hatefilled Indians" or " Pakistani citizens who are India/CIA agents", it would help if you occassionally indulged in some introspection.
@gp65: @Hegdefunder: The govt of Pakistan has every right to go after The Sun’s agent Ali Asad. Your hate filled comments against Pakistan on every article don't make an iota of a difference for the millions of patriotic Pakistanis.
Oh really. Who are you to represent the "world".... Lol.
You punished Shakil Afridi (forget the official reason of supporting LeI) for assisting US in finding out OBL. It made no attempts to figure out who assisted OBL to hide for 6 years. Now it is e trying to go after Ali Asad instead of trying to dismantle the fake passport scam ring leaders.
The world is noticing...
I would have said few words against the Sun only if Rehman Malik and this government had even 5% credibility of what a normal human being has.