IT all started with my desire to subscribe for myself and a friend the Mahana Akhbar Urdu published by the Idara-i-Farogh-i-Qaumi Zaban (IFQZ) in Islamabad. The initial shock was that the subscription amount could be sent only through money order; no cheque, no payorder, nothing. An online transaction entailing direct transfer to IFQZ’s bank account, I suspect, was not something the officials working there might have even heard about.

Anyway, that is not the reason I am writing these lines. In August 2022, I sent two money orders of the relevant amount each through Johar Town post office in Lahore, as can be seen in the accompanying image. After a fortnight, I tried many a time to contact the relevant IFQZ official, but could not. There was some fault in its telephone exchange that left the caller frustrated, irritated and clueless. It used to terminate the call right after a lengthy welcoming recorded message. So, cutting a long story short, I could not contact anybody at IFQZ.

I then requested a friend in Islamabad to visit the relevant office, which he was kind enough to do. All he got there was a telephone number of an official who was not around at the time. When contact was established on cellphone, the gentleman concerned informed that the magazine had not been published yet, and that it would be sent to me and my friend as soon as the IFQZ received it from the printer.

After a few days, my friend did receive his copy, but my wait has continued to date. There is no end in sight despite that fact that many months have passed. Is there anyone at IFQZ, or anywhere else, who may help me out?

S.S. Tanweer Hussain
Lahore

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2023