GupShup Forums - View Single Post

OldLahori · Dec 24th, 2002, 06:03 PM

And now we have an editorial in the same paper on an event that never took place!!! This is the editorial, mind you!!!
Pakistani Journalism Zindabad!

************************************************** ******
http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/251202/editor/ed3.htm

THE arrest of thousands of Pakistanis during a countrywide operation by the US Immigration authorities has further raised the level of insecurity being felt by this community in America. The majority of the arrests have been made in California but areas where there are concentrations of Pakistanis throughout the US remain a prime target. US security agencies have stepped up their vigilance of these areas and armed with increasingly draconian laws are in a position to persecute any community. In this particular case the Pakistanis were highly vulnerable to this action as their US visas were not in order. There is no official version to corroborate or clarify the situation and in its absence we must assume that these Pakistanis are not illegal immigrants, but merely people whose visas had either expired or whose applications for renewal were still under process. From all accounts, this is quite a common situation among immigrant workers in the USA, especially the Mexican community. In fact a large number of them are supposed to have been working in the World Trade Centre on 9/11 and are believed to have perished there. There seems no apparent move to round them up as part of the strategy employed against Pakistanis in a similar situation. Therefore, it raises suspicion about a purge of Muslims, Pakistanis being in double jeopardy because of their religious affiliation with, and geographical proximity to, the people who are the prime target of the US War on Terrorism.
One cannot rule out the possibility that the US may be entering another dark chapter reminiscent of the ideological witch hunt it undertook in the worst days of McCarthyism or the ethnic cleansing its policymakers initiated against the Japanese in World War II. There are signs that the same mood prevails in the US today and is supported by two powerful lobbies, mainly that of the Jewish-American and Indian-American communities. There is more than a little frustration about the manner in which the citizens of a partner in the US War on Terror are being treated.
Islamabad must also activate its representatives to perform their responsibilities to these Pakistanis in distress, by ensuring that they get the legal support they require and that a diplomatic and lobbying programme is put into action to deal with the situation.

Dec 24th, 2002, 06:03 PM	#15 (permalink)
OldLahori Senior Member Join Date: Jan 28, 2002 - 1:00 am Posts: 1,347	And now we have an editorial in the same paper on an event that never took place!!! This is the editorial, mind you!!! Pakistani Journalism Zindabad! ************************************************ **** http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/251202/editor/ed3.htm THE arrest of thousands of Pakistanis during a countrywide operation by the US Immigration authorities has further raised the level of insecurity being felt by this community in America. The majority of the arrests have been made in California but areas where there are concentrations of Pakistanis throughout the US remain a prime target. US security agencies have stepped up their vigilance of these areas and armed with increasingly draconian laws are in a position to persecute any community. In this particular case the Pakistanis were highly vulnerable to this action as their US visas were not in order. There is no official version to corroborate or clarify the situation and in its absence we must assume that these Pakistanis are not illegal immigrants, but merely people whose visas had either expired or whose applications for renewal were still under process. From all accounts, this is quite a common situation among immigrant workers in the USA, especially the Mexican community. In fact a large number of them are supposed to have been working in the World Trade Centre on 9/11 and are believed to have perished there. There seems no apparent move to round them up as part of the strategy employed against Pakistanis in a similar situation. Therefore, it raises suspicion about a purge of Muslims, Pakistanis being in double jeopardy because of their religious affiliation with, and geographical proximity to, the people who are the prime target of the US War on Terrorism. One cannot rule out the possibility that the US may be entering another dark chapter reminiscent of the ideological witch hunt it undertook in the worst days of McCarthyism or the ethnic cleansing its policymakers initiated against the Japanese in World War II. There are signs that the same mood prevails in the US today and is supported by two powerful lobbies, mainly that of the Jewish-American and Indian-American communities. There is more than a little frustration about the manner in which the citizens of a partner in the US War on Terror are being treated. Islamabad must also activate its representatives to perform their responsibilities to these Pakistanis in distress, by ensuring that they get the legal support they require and that a diplomatic and lobbying programme is put into action to deal with the situation.