Pak officials harass guests invited to Indian High Commission's Iftar party
Islamabad: Guests invited to Indian High Commission's Iftar party in Islamabad on Saturday evening faced "unprecedented level of harassment" due to enhanced security checks by the Pakistani officials who stopped some invitees on one pretext or other.
Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria hosted the annual event at Serena Hotel for which guests were invited from all over Pakistan. Those attending the event said that additional security deployment was made around the luxury hotel.
A journalist said that he saw more than usual security presence but those having invitation cards and identity documents were allowed to attend.
"My invitation card was checked and I was asked questions about profession and residence, and allowed to go in," he said.
"Unprecedented level of harassment at @serena_hotels Islamabad. #India embassy iftaar happening & police & anti terrorism force misbehaving with anyone trying into get in the hotel. Got screamed at, my driver abused. Sorry, not being an entitled prick. This was genuine harassment," tweeted noted journalist Mehreen Zahra-Malik.
Another journalist, on condition of anonymity, told PTI that he did not attend as he feared about questioning and security checks. He also said that there were reports that some invitees were called by anonymous callers and told not to attend the event.
Senior Pakistan People's Party leader Farhatullah Babar said that every gaze deflected towards odd visitors in hotel's lobby.
"Came to Serena for iftar hosted by Indian HC. Hotel seems barricaded. Told that iftar cancelled. When insisted, I was told to use other gate. Other gate also closed and told to go back to front gate again. What's going on, something fishy," he tweeted.
Babar said that he somehow managed to attend the Indian mission's iftar despite efforts by the local authorities to stop invitees on one pretext or other.
High Commissioner Bisaria in his brief address to the audience said that some of the guests could not make to the party.
"I want to apologize because some of you faced a lot of trouble to come here and some of our friends could not come," he said.
Bisaria also said that people had come from Lahore and Karachi to attend the event and thanked them for coming.
India has not been engaging with Pakistan following the attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together.
Tensions flared up between the two sides after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14.
Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured an IAF pilot, who was handed over to India.
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Ensure paid holiday for postal staff on polling day in Kerala: John Brittas writes to Scindia
New Delhi (PTI): CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas on Sunday wrote to Union Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia, seeking his urgent intervention to ensure that postal employees in Kerala are granted a statutory paid holiday on April 9 for the Assembly elections in the southern state.
In his letter, Brittas expressed serious concern over the Kerala Postal Circle’s instructions to treat all postal employees as “absentee voters in essential services (AVES)”, directing them to opt for a postal ballot within an “extremely limited” timeframe.
The Department of Posts operates under the Ministry of Communications. Along with the Department of Telecommunications, it is one of the two main sections within the ministry headed by Scindia.
In his letter, Brittas pointed out that the circular dated March 19 required the collection of Form 12D by March 20 (Eid al-Fitr), and submission of the compiled details at the respective collectorates by March 22 (Sunday), both holidays in Kerala, making meaningful compliance difficult and raising apprehensions about the “arbitrary” nature of the directions.
The CPI(M) leader also pointed out that the Election Commission, in a communication dated March 16, reiterated the requirement under Section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, that every person employed in any establishment and entitled to vote shall be granted a paid holiday on the polling day, without any deduction or abatement of wages.
He said even where certain services are treated as essential, the long-standing administrative practice has been to maintain only minimal required operations on polling day, without denying employees the opportunity to vote in person.
Brittas argued that in some other states going to polls this month, including Assam, most postal employees have been granted a holiday on polling day, in accordance with the statutory provisions.
During the 2021 Kerala polls, postal establishments had observed a holiday on polling day, subject only to limited essential arrangements, he claimed.
The present deviation, Brittas said, raises concerns about inconsistency in the application of law and the avoidable curtailment of the democratic rights of employees.
Stating that the right to vote lies at the core of India's democratic framework, Brittas urged Scindia to examine the matter urgently.
“Given the proximity of the polling date, I earnestly seek your kind indulgence to have the matter examined on priority, and to issue urgent directions to the postal authorities in Kerala to ensure that the statutory entitlement of postal employees in Kerala to a paid holiday on the day of polling is duly ensured,” Brittas said in the letter.
The 140 seats in the Kerala Assembly will go to polls on April 9, and the results will be out on May 4.
