Apparently, only passports containing valid visas for other countries have gone missing. –File Photo

I am currently struggling to find out how I can enter Laos, given that the country does not have an embassy or consulate either in Sri Lanka, or in Pakistan. According to the Internet, I should be able to get a visa on arrival at the airport. But as I travel on the deadly green Pakistani passport, I am somewhat dubious: surely it can’t be that easy to enter another country. The others in our party are all Brits, and will have no problems, but I can easily visualise a scenario in which I will be denied entry. If readers have any advice, I would be grateful to hear how to solve this problem.

This personal issue underlines the larger problem faced by all Pakistanis when they seek to travel abroad. A large number of bad experiences have made our passports noxious in the eyes of other nations. Issues ranging from illegal immigration to drug smuggling to extremist terrorism have caused much of the international community to view travellers from our shores with suspicion.

Given the difficulties faced by Pakistanis in getting visas, losing a passport endorsed with several of these precious stamps is a huge nightmare. That’s what has been happening to several Pakistanis who have sent their passports to the British High Commission in the recent past. An old friend recounted his horror story of applying to get his multiple-entry, five-year visa to the UK renewed. His passport contained a similar valid Schengen visa to the EU, and one for Canada.

When he got a call from Gerry’s, the travel agency designated to collect and return documents, that his papers were ready for collection, he was delighted and went to their office to collect the visa he had waited over two months for. When he opened the official-looking envelope, he found his passport missing, and a letter saying the High Commission regretted the loss of his passport, but would issue him a visa as soon as he got a new one, offering to pay the cost. What the letter did not say was how he was to get new Schengen and Canadian visas, and who would bear the cost.

The larger issue here, of course, is how the High Commission managed to lose my friend’s passport from one of the most secure areas in the entire country. According to a spokesman of the British Border Security Agency, an enquiry has been launched into the loss of passports from the HC premises. Apparently, only passports containing valid visas for other countries have gone missing. This obviously indicates that officials are pilfering these documents to sell to people who can get the passport details altered to travel to the countries that issued these visas.

I have written earlier about the long delays faced by Pakistanis applying for a UK visa as the procedure now involves the applications being processed in Abu Dhabi. Many people who have been travelling to Britain for years have been effectively grounded for months while they wait. Many of them have had their visas refused on flimsy grounds, and their hefty visa fees appropriated by Her Majesty’s government. This policy does little to make the UK safer as the real terrorist threat faced by it is from home-grown extremists, and not from middle-aged professionals and businessmen.

Talking of extremism, I was bemused recently by the sight of large bearded men blocking the aisle and access to the galley and toilet in a Sri Lankan Airways flight as they spread out mats and knelt and bowed in prayer. It was bad enough when the small club class section was thus used as a flying mosque, but when passengers from economy seats began encroaching, people complained to the staff.

Apparently, these devout Pakistanis were members of the Tablighi Jamaat; one of them, no doubt taking me for a Sri Lankan, suggested in English that I study Islam. I was so annoyed by this time that I told him rather brusquely in Urdu that I did not need his advice or guidance.

This kind of thing often happens in PIA flights, but to inconvenience other passengers is hardly Islamic, especially when there is a clear dispensation from praying for travellers. And there is nothing to prevent people from praying quietly in their seats.

The hypocrisy of these people was exposed when we were waiting for our baggage at Karachi airport. The maghrib azan was relayed over the sound system as our bearded fellow-passengers stood around the luggage belt. Not one of them moved to pray, although there was ample space available. So clearly, their ostentatious display of devoutness while we were airborne was purely for show.

This public parading of piety is yet another legacy of the Zia era we are still struggling with. Now, separate areas have been designated for prayers in various airports around the world due to demands made by Muslim travellers. But they are largely empty as it appears the faithful would rather catch up on their duty-free shopping than pray.

Much as we might deplore the recent phenomenon of Islamophobia in the West, we should recognise that largely, it is fuelled by the outward symbols of their faith so many Muslims insist on displaying prominently. Long, unkempt beards for men, and all-enveloping shrouds for women, have come to symbolise Islam in many Western eyes. Somehow, people who insist on shoving their faith in the face of others seem to think this outer display makes them better Muslims.

To some extent, this attitude can be explained by the desire of a minority to express their separate identity in an alien milieu. However, the irony here is that this identity is being asserted by a generation that was born and brought up in the West. By insisting on parading the symbols of their separateness, they are in effect rejecting the values of their host culture. Unfortunately, in these polarised post-9/11 days, erecting this barrier means that many Muslims are marginalising themselves.

In practical terms, this growing gap between Muslim migrants and their descendants, and the host community of Europeans and Americans, means that Muslims remain behind in terms of education and employment. This is truer of Europe than America, but clearly, this cleavage does not help the cause of mutual understanding. Until we learn that belief is a private matter not to be paraded at every excuse, we will continue being viewed with suspicion wherever we go. And selfishly, I will keep wondering if I will be allowed to enter Laos.