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The representative delegation of the Quaid e Millat
e Jafariya Agha Syed Hamid Ali Shah Moosavi called on the
Mission Head of Iraq Embassy
ISLAMABAD,
October 20: On receiving requests form the
pilgrims, a representative delegation of
Quaid e Millat e Jafariya Agha Syed Hamid Ali Shah Moosavi
called on the Mission Head of Iraq Embassy
Mr. Uday Adnan Ibrahim in Islamabad to have a detail discussion
about the issues faced in securing Iraqi
visa by the pilgrims while also presented a letter of Quaid e
Millat e Jafariya Agha Syed Hamid Ali Shah
Moosavi as a special message to the Ambassador of Iraq. The
delegation that was led by the Secretary
General Tehreek e Nifaz e Fiqah Jafariya Pakistan Syed Shujaat
Ali Bukhari also included Allama Syed
Zahid Abbas Kazmi, Allama Raja Bisharat Hussain Imami, and Syed
Ahmed Ali Bukhari. On this occasion,
the Head of Mission of Iraq Embassy informed the delegation that
the ambassador of Iraq wanted to
meet the TNFJ delegation in person, but he had to attend a
similar but unforeseen meeting with the
Pakistani Foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Pakistan’s
foreign office however; the ambassador
will certainly be updated with the message of Agha Moosavi as
well as the problems faced by the
pilgrims in Karbala and Najaf.
According to the details, Uday Adnan Ibrahim assured the TNFJ
delegation that there is absolutely
no delay in Issuance of Visa by the Iraqi Embassy. Uday Adnan
Ibrahim told that the government of Iraq
has issued special instructions to its embassy to facilitate and
speed up visa issuance however, some of
the agent mafias active in Visa business in Pakistan are trying
to get additional payments from the
pilgrims despite already receiving their Visas which is
subsequently disturbing the pilgrims as well as
defaming the Iraq embassy. Therefore, pilgrims must stay
cautious of such caravan/group leaders and
agents so that the repute of Iraq embassy does not get
compromised. He further mentioned that six to
twelve thousand visas are being issued per day to facilitate
pilgrims of Arbaeen-e-Hussaini. He further
recommended that it would be better if pilgrims and their group
leaders submit visa applications by
themselves instead of using agents. The Head of Mission said
that the staff in embassy is working for
eighteen hours a day to issue visas to the applicants and
therefore, the list of visas of the list of pilgrims
submitted in the morning are cleared by the evening on the same
day.
According to TNFJ, the letter of Quaid e Millat e Jafariya Agha
Syed Hamid Ali Shah Moosavi to Iraqi
Ambassador stated that Pakistan and Iraq are strongly bonded
together in the relation of brotherhood
and Islamic unity and the way people of Iraq love the people of
Pakistan similarly, the people of Pakistan
also possess great love and affection for Iraq while due to the
holy shrines and signs of sacred Imams
and heroes of Islam, their love for Iraq also include the
aspects of respect and reverence. Every year,
hundreds and thousands of Pakistani pilgrims travel to Iraq for
Karbala, Najaf, Kazmain, Baghdad Shareef
and Samraa while the routine kept continued even when Iraq was a
victim of worst kind of terrorism in
the form of Daaish (ISIS) whereas the pilgrimage of hundreds and
thousands of Pakistanis also
contributed in diluting the fear of ISIS during those days while
the way people of Iraq courageously
defeated the brutal terrorists of ISIS, the entire world and
specially the people of Pakistan appreciate it a
lot. In the letter, Agha Moosavi mentioned that the people of
Pakistan are also fighting against terrorism
with the similar spirit. The letter further said that in past,
the issuance of Visas to the Arbaeen pilgrims
used to be concluded by the mid of Muharram which enabled timely
departure of the poor pilgrims who
travel by road to attend Arabeen in Karbala. However, this year,
the process of visa issuance started in
the month of Safar which has resulted in causing serious
problems to the pilgrims. Agha Moosavi
suggested that special arrangements must be made for the
pilgrimage on the occasions of of Ashura,
Arbaeen, Rajab, Shaban, martyrdom anniversary of Maula Ali (A.S)
during Ramadan and Arfaa to
facilitate the pilgrims. Issuance of visas to the Arbaeen
pilgrims must be completed at earliest possible.
For the pilgrimages, Iraq embassy must stay in touch with the
people of Pakistan and on major
occasions, the Iraqi Ambassador or Counsellor must inform and
update the people of Pakistan about the
steps and procedures adopted by the Iraqi embassy using the
media channels. Just like Iraq, Pakistan is
also engaged in fighting against terrorism therefore, the Iraqi
embassy must stay alert from the
organizations which have been proscribed due to their
involvement in terrorism. In the letter, Quaid e
Millat e Jafariya and the Head of TNFJ also proposed that the
condition of 25-people group must be
removed for the issuance of visas to the pilgrims as it will
deprive the people and families who go for the
pilgrimage on their own consequently forcing them to become a
part of expensive groups made for the
business purposes. Similarly, this condition is also problematic
for the people belonging to Sunni school
of thought who are eager for pilgrimage to the shrine of Imam
Hussain (A.S) in Karbala.
Agha Moosavi expressed positive hopes that the embassy of Iraq
will consider the suggestions of
TNFJ and take practical steps for their implementation so that
the relation of two countries gets even
stronger. He prayed for the safety of Iraq and Pakistan along
with rest of the Islamic world from all kinds
of conspiracies. |
