Visa mafia rules Pak Embassy in Kabul

Jalil Afridi


LAHORE: It is learnt through a reliable source that the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul is minting money through the issuance of visa to mostly the Afghan nationals and few other nationals as well.
Every day thousand of Afghans cross back and forth into Pakistan through either Torkham or Chaman borders, whereas due to strict security on the border it is now almost impossible to enter into Pakistan with out a valid visa. Taking advantage of this opportunity, a group of influentials in the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul are minting money through the issuance of visa. Those who refuse to pay the desire amount for visa are told that their documents have to be sent to Pakistan for clearance and in such case the visa seekers have to wait for months. An expert on Pak Afghan situation when approached for comment said that how can they be so greedy and ignoring the menace of terrorism which is taking place on both sides of the border and claiming the lives of innocent people on regular basis.
It is pertinent to mention here that this scribe had brought this same issue into the notice of a senior official in Kabul Embassy two months ago as well but it seems no action so far has been taken against the visa mafia.
Akhtar Munir, Press Attache at the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul when contacted for the Embassy version in this regard said that Pakistani Embassy is the most lenient Embassy in Kabul with regard to the issuance of visa and that more than seven hundred visas are issued every day.\” He further said that Even if you give the whole world to the Afghans, it is just not possible to make them happy.