ISLAMABAD: Protesting against the Foreign Office’s indifferent attitude towards the plight of a woman — said to be of Pakistani-origin — who has been languishing in Indian prison, Senator Irfanul Haq Siddiqui of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) announced that he would move a privilege motion against the FO spokesperson for his “inappropriate and unprofessional behaviour”.

       Mr Siddiqui, who raised the issue of Sumaira and her daughter in the upper house of parliament, held a press conference on Wednesday. He regretted that even a ruling on the matter by Senate chairman, given on Feb 17, was being ignored and despite his personal efforts the Foreign Office officials were not bothered to provide any update on the case.

       Sumaira, along with her young daughter, has been under detention for the past six months although she has served out a four-year sentence, just because she has not been provided a citizenship certificate by Pakistani authorities. Senator Siddiqui told journalists that he sent a message to the Foreign Ministry spokes-person on Feb 22, requesting him to call back whenever convenient to him.

       When there was no reply, the senator’s staff called the Foreign Office spokesman and were told that he would call back after 10 minutes. However, despite repeated reminders Mr Iftikhar never contacted the senator or his staff.

       Apart from an announcement about issuance of a citizenship certificate for Sumaira by Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, neither the officials in Pakistan nor those at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi considered it necessary to keep the nation informed regarding progress in the case.

       Sources said that despite repeated reminders, the two ministries did not send any report to the upper house of parliament. Foreign Office Spokesman Asim Iftikhar could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts.

       Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2022