An unpleasant encounter

It was late in the evening when I read a story published in The Express Tribune, which stated that the Islamabad airport has been ranked as the worst in the world. It immediately took me back a few days when I had arrived at the same airport around 11pm. I was shocked to see the chaos at the arrival lounge. Apart from many other irregularities, officials who had relatives in the immigration queue, openly abused their positions and accompanied them to the front of the line to get their passports stamped.

What caught my attention was that the immigration officer would put a piece of paper inside certain passports after stamping them. This paper, in reality, was an indication for other officials to catch the passenger and investigate him with the intention of getting bribes. My passport was singled out for that piece of paper and I was stopped by the next official. “Why were you in Bangkok for three days?” the well-suited man asked me. I looked straight into his eyes and replied, “For leisure.” He kept interrogating me in a harsh manner, upon which I informed him that I was a journalist. I was then allowed to go through.

Another official from a different department then accosted me and asked me the same questions. “I am a citizen of this country and I have the right to go anywhere,” I answered. This officer also relented when I told him about my profession. It didn’t end there. Another official inquired about the contents of my handbag. He asked me to get it scanned again and asked me why I had brought two pairs of shoes. “You have to pay a customs duty on that,” he told me. I smiled at him and told him I knew the law well and didn’t need to pay for anything. He only let me go after discovering that I was a journalist.

After coming out of the airport, I felt ashamed of being a Pakistani. I have noticed that the staff at other airports around the world welcome people with a smile, but that’s not the case in Pakistan. A friend working at the Civil Aviation Authority has told me that often, Pakistani passengers travelling from the Gulf countries are reduced to tears by the behaviour of the immigration staff. Most of these travellers are unaware of customs regulations and the staff takes unfair advantage of this. Travellers are often forced to settle their problems by paying bribes to airport officials.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2014.