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| Iraq |
| 37 pilgrims sent back from Baghdad |
| 2013-04-22 |
| [Dawn] Around 37 pilgrims -- two of them children -- braved a test of their lives during which they spent 26 hours in detention in Iraq and then interrogation by the FIA after finally making it back to Pakistain. Despite having completed all the legal formalities, the pilgrims were not allowed to enter the country by Iraqi immigration authorities. After more than a day of detention, they were sent back to Pakistain, wrung out and hungry, only to be put through another four-hour detention at the Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... airport's immigration counter. The group included 14 women, 21 men and two toddlers aged one and two-and-a-half years. The elderly person in the group was 75 and one was a cancer patient. "We departed from Karachi at about 2:40 am on Thursday in a transit flight of Fly Dubai for Iraq. We stayed for ten hours in Dubai before leaving for Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... and reached there at around 3:30 pm Iraq local time," said Aale Raza, the tour operator who was leading the caravan intending to visit three sacred cities of Kazmain, Karbala and Najaf. "The Iraqi officials held us for two hours at the immigration counter. After that they asked us to pick up our luggage. They took us to a so-called room, which was actually a part of the hallway for passengers, and asked us to stay here. The room was small and partitioned by a wooden wall, with about a dozen chairs. Too small to accommodate 38 people," said Mr Raza. Every one in the group had paid around 68,000 rupees for an 11-day tour of the holy cities in Iraq offered by Mr Raza. Iraqi officials had asked the pilgrims not to go anywhere and had stationed guards outside the room. During their 26-hour detention, only one person accompanied by one guard was allowed to use the washroom outside. "It was too embarrassing for all of us. We were accompanied by women and kiddies for whom you cannot even think about such a situation," said 54-year-old Saeed Rizvi, who works for a private company and lives in Ancholi area. It was to be the first visit for Mr Rizvi and his family to Iraq. Five others, his father, two female relatives and two cousins were also traveling with him. "They put us in virtual incarceration. We were compelled to sit on the floor in a very awkward condition. Everyone passing by was staring at us bizarrely as if we had no self respect like them," said Mr Rizvi. |
| Posted by:Fred |