THIS refers to the letter ‘Pakistan Post not up to the mark’ (Aug 16). The performance of Pakistan Post is, indeed, below par in the region. Those living abroad who wish to remain in touch with Pakistan’s culture and history are shocked to find that Pakistan Post has no bank account in any foreign country through which non-residents can remit payment in euros or dollars directly to a philatelic bureau in Karachi or Islamabad.

A collector in, say, Germany will have to contact a friend or relative in Karachi to pay the Philatelic Bureau at the General Post Office (GPO) Karachi in Pakistani rupees before expecting the purchases made online to be dispatched and delivered.

Incidentally, Pakistani postage stamps have been internationally popular since its first definitive one-rupee issue, designed by Art Nouveau painter, Abdur Rahman Chughtai, was acclaimed as one of the 10 most attractive postage stamps of 1948.

Today, there are scores of collectors in the United Kingdom, the United States and across Europe who cannot order new issues by paying directly to Pakistan Post in foreign exchange because the customer care department only disseminates pre-formulated messages that have no relevance to the queries sent.

One really wonders for whom and for what purpose is the Pakistan Post regularly issuing and printing millions of postage stamps of Rs20 denomination when an average letter to a foreign destination costs Rs200 or more.

Further, one has to send these letters through registered mail, otherwise they seldom get delivered. Postage stamps commemorating world-known personalities or important events are immediately ‘removed’ from the envelopes which are never delivered to the addressee.

To test the system, I mailed several self-addressed letters with Kashmir Martyrs’ Day stamps, issued on July 13, 2018, and personally dropped them into the large red letterboxes of the colonial era in front of the Karachi GPO at I.I. Chundrigar Road. I am still waiting for the letters to arrive!

Zahid Islam
Karachi

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2021