February 2, 2006

One has heard of the agony and misery experienced by people who apply for visas to western countries: of the long wait, of the rudeness shown to them by the embassy security, of having to pay thousands in non-refundable application fees only to be refused a visa.

Take India, for example, first, there is the problem that anyone who wants to go there and who happens to live in either Sindh or Balochistan has to travel to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad and apply for a visa. The Indian government was supposed to re-open, after a gap of several years, its consulate in Karachi this month but the matter has been delayed because Pakistan has been unable to find a location for its own consulate in Mumbai. Both governments had earlier agreed that the consulates would be re-opened simultaneously. Most visa applications — if successful –– take several weeks to process and applicants are advised by the Indian High Commission to apply at least a couple of months in advance.

A year or so ago, there was talk by both countries of issuing tourist visas to visitors from across the border, with the Pakistanis arguing for greater leniency in issuing visas to more than one city. Apparently, the list of cities approved by the Indians for Pakistani nationals has been increased to 12 but the matter of tourist visas seems to have been forgotten. Perhaps, the Indian Establishment cannot imagine that any Pakistani visitor could be a genuine tourist, although this is a fact belied by the presence of many young Pakistanis who seem to be literally dying to visit New Delhi or Mumbai.

In fact, during the last summit of President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the matter of allowing unfettered access in all Saarc countries was not only discussed, both governments were quite optimistic also about this proposal bearing fruit in the not-so-distant future. Over a year has gone by and it seems that this particular visa issue, too, has been forgotten.

The situation, as it currently stands, is that most visitors to India are given what is called a ‘reporting’ visa — which means that the person has to report to a designated police station within 24 hours of arrival in India and later when departing the country. As if this isn’t an unnecessary burden (Indian nationals are required to do the same when they visit Pakistan), in case the visitor goes to another city –– say enters India in Mumbai and then travels to Delhi — the whole arrival and exit reporting procedure has to be done all over again at each place visited.

Even if one plans on staying in the same city, switching residences from a hotel to the home of a friend or relative can pose a problem because the police may well ask the reason for doing so — and telling them the straightforward and honest answer could actually be misconstrued.

Presumably, this reporting mechanism is designed to ensure that the respective law-enforcement agencies of both countries are able to keep an eye on the movement of visitors from across the border. In fact, the singling out of Pakistanis (and presumably of Indians when they visit Pakistan) begins right at the airport when they are made to fill out a special form (in quadruplicate) before approaching immigration.

The reporting procedure itself entails a tedious visit to a local police station. In Mumbai, where this writer recently went to attend a conference (and was given, horror of horrors, a ‘reporting’ visa) this was the CID office opposite Victoria Terminus. The office resembled pretty much a police or government office anywhere in Pakistan, with obese police officials, chewing pan, talking in a not-very-polite tone and the usual disorderliness and disregard for visitors.

Clearly, India’s IT boom has not penetrated the bureaucracy of the Maharashtra state government and its police because everything was done in writing. In fact, three people separately handled one passport and visa form, jotting down pretty much the same information (address in Pakistan, address in India, purpose of visit to India and so on) each time.

The whole exercise wastes at least half a day, and this was for someone who was staying quite close to the police station. One can only imagine that others who had to report, would probably have spent the whole day given Mumbai’s size —– there were a couple of Bohri ladies who were overheard pleading with an official to get their work done (the visa papers have to be stamped) since they had come a day before also.

Of course, there are some people who do manage to get non-reporting visas, but they are a small minority and the matter is usually at the discretion of the Indian government. That is not the problem because any government should have the right to reject –– without assigning any reason –– a visa application. But if a visa is being given — and one assumes that this is done after making all the background checks and verifying the applicant’s bona fides — then surely the ‘reporting’ procedure can be dispensed with by both India and Pakistan. As it currently stands, it is the ordinary Pakistani or Indian who suffers the most, since the foreign office mandarins or those with connections usually manage to obtain ‘non-reporting’ visas.

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