Reflections During a US Visa Grind

Re: # 60
The presumptions are remarkable and hilarious. Nowhere does the article say that the writer experienced this as an applicant or has not lived in the US. For all a reader knows, the writer could be a US citizen accompanying a non-citizen friend just to experience what his government dishes out to human beings in the name of his security. Unless one is a bigoted American policy-maker or voted for such, one's apology is presumptuous and self-important. Nobody, least of all the writer of this article, cares for an apology from an ordinary American citizen - a misled victim of bad education, patriotic media, and money politics. Indeed, a pitiable creature brainwashed with "This is the greatest country in the world." It is the policy makers in America who need to apologise to humanity for the instability and injustice they have spread in the world through their hubris. Even then, who in their right mind would accept the apology? One can't ruin a whole planet and then just apologise. America is paying for what it has done, and it will continue to pay until it is no longer powerful enough to be unjust. The world will settle for no less, and will accept no apologies. So please, no self-important and presumptuous apologies. Americans have written far more scathing accounts of their sordid governments than this article. So, for all anyone knows, an American wrote this one too. And don't be surprised if that's true.

Zeerak:

As an American I owe you an apology for the way you were treated. I do take issue, however, with your characterization of our values and principles. You may be pleasantly surprised if you lived here and interacted with us. Please don't be so quick to judge.

Ejaz

Many thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to comment. Apologies to those who were offended by the point-of-view because they misunderstood, and gratitude to those who weren't because they understood. Some even came out in defense, and that is simply touching. A few clarifications are due, in all humility.

First, what is the point-of-view of this piece? It is that of a person committed only to freedom and equality, not to any national, religious, security, or economic interest. Indeed, this viewpoint shuns national or religious loyalties and holds nothing sacred. From such a viewpoint, the preservation of human dignity is paramount and it is laughable to be "secure" in a world which is neither free nor equal. Jails are secure too and yet it is worthless to live in one forever. If a person with such a viewpoint visits a US diplomatic mission, he can only relate his experiences of that - not of an Arab mission he has never visited. When he does, he might find the process equally dehumanising or less or more so. If a process is designed to treat people as less than human, it speaks ill of its designers whether they are from America, Pakistan, the Arab world, or elsewhere. All these countries may be safer, arguably, becuase of their dehumanizing treatment of many human beings in the last few years - whether in Islamabad, Guantanamo, or elsewhere - but they are not better places to live. America is no exception. Its case is particularly glaring because, unlike others who never idealized freedom or equality, it has forsaken its own ideals in a misguided attempt at security.

Second, what is the point of this piece? It is simply to describe a dehumanizing process and the thoughts it yields in a mind committed to freedom and equality. There are millions of such processes in effect all over the world, perhaps more in Muslim countries than in non-Muslim, but all of them cannot be described in one article. One may only describe what one experiences. No love or hate is implied, either for America or Pakistan, but if one observes Pakistanis debasing themselves voluntarily and Americans mistreating them with impunity then what choice does one have except to relate the evidence?

Once again, thanks for reading and commenting. Let's keep it civil and impersonal.

Dear Zeerak, I read your article. You have a tremendous flow in your writing. Its hilarious & revealing hidden truths. I would prefer to read all your future wittings.
Great….!

I remember the queues in Bombay when I'd gone to get a tourist visa. Any wonder that has been my only trip? there are other places I'd like to visit in the US, but I can only swallow my self-respect for so long-well done VRV!
The Indian guards were rude and aggressive-insistent on speaking English with their compatriots, with strong eastern UP accents- and the visa applicants were so submissive it was humiliating to watch them. I think the least we can expect is that foreign missions behave in the manner government services do in their own countries-that is, I do not expect friendliness, but I do expect a degree of courtesy.
No one seems to have noticed on chowk, btw that US tourist arrivals have fallen recently.

dash dot writes "with this profile it dont matter Masada - black brown green yellow or blue you will be frisked body searched and cavities lit up."

Not at all, many with similar profiles but lighter skin colors and demeanors to match sail right through, what lights up the "cavities" are stereotypes of the pigs that themselves think at the fifth grade level, that and your command of English and nature of accent determines who will be frisked and who wont, Racial/ethnic profiling is what is practiced, the pigs incharge of singling out folk don't have the intelligence to go much beyond that...

dash dot writes "So please stop this "colour of skin" shit "

There is no crap there, aggregate statistics of the US reveal great difference on a society wide level based on skin color, not to mention the grand history of genocide the world over by the white elite based on race, including the Atlantic Slave Trade which was a new form of slavery based and justified on skin color alone. Regarding Saudi Arabia, it is mere imitation racism of their white masters where the white pay scale is much higher than the local Arabs, and due to the kind of labor that goes from our countries reflects the stereotypes and status assigned to them. We have had this discussion before and you as usual have no clue just BS.

...not to mention the income and wealth factor, that group intermarries for the purpose of wealth consolidation, class consciousness is very strong among the members of this elite but not as strong as the race factor where dating and marriage is concerned...

Hamid wrote " are you saying that you actually went to bed with a nice christian white girl ... "

I didn't state anything about the "bed" part and members of the US elite wont let their daughters date me because of the race/ethnicity/national origin factor

Re: # 48
Well said....Bhai Dash and Dot
And again the similar startling insight in a humourous tone....

you indulge and propagate the same biased misconceptions about America and Americans that you claim Americans learn from CNN and NBC about Muslims. If you hate America so much, America is better off without you. It is easy not going through the hell you have described. Don't apply. Instead apply to your rich Arab braaders who are the epitome of non-racist, non-communal and non-elitist societies. I am sure they will welcome you with dates and honey in their embassies.

how dare the US single out purelanders!!!

Official: Militant Pakistani group causes terror concerns in New York

NEW YORK: A follower of an Islamic militant group caused a previously undisclosed scare in 2004 when someone in his truck took mobile phone photos of the support structures of the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges, a police official said.

The New York Police Department uncovered the suspected reconnaissance mission in Manhattan while investigators already were on alert that Pakistani immigrants loyal to the radical Sunni group, Sipah-e-Sahaba, were in the city "and possibly up to no good," said Paul Browne, the NYPD's top spokesman.

The spokesman detailed the bridge episode in response to a report on Friday in the Daily News that the NYPD was involved in the detention of a member of the group who is purportedly wanted in Pakistan for the assassination of a Shiite leader.

The NYPD has credited one of its intelligence analysts with piecing together evidence that the suspect, Akhtar Hussain Muawia, had used an alias to slip into the United States after the 1997 assassination and was working as a clerk at a grocery store in Jersey City, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York.

Muawia, 33, was detained in May and is fighting deportation. His attorney has denied he was involved in the killing or any acts of terrorism.
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The NYPD's involvement in the Muawia case reflects its concerns that U.S. followers of lesser-known radical groups like Sipah-e-Sahaba could pose a threat to the city. The Pakistani government outlawed the group after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in an effort to purge the country of extremism, much of it anti-American.

The group also has been designated a terrorist organization by the State Department.

Investigators from the NYPD's Intelligence Division first became aware of a Sipah-e-Sahaba presence in the city in the summer of 2003, Browne said. That fall, acting on an unfounded tip about a potential plot against the subways, police and the FBI that fall raided a Brooklyn apartment where they discovered membership applications and other documents related to the group.

In 2004, a truck traveling on the FDR caught the attention of an off-duty police officer by pausing to let someone inside "photograph the supporting structures underneath the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges," Browne said. It was later learned that the truck was registered to Tariq Javid, whose name was on a Sipah-e-Sahaba membership list found in the Brooklyn apartment.

Under questioning, Javid first denied knowing anything about the group, then admitted he had signed a membership form, according to court papers. However, he denied knowing anything about photographs of the bridges.

Last year, Javid pleaded guilty to making a false statement and was sentenced to one year probation.

Re: # 43

masadi,

.... are you saying that you actually went to bed with a nice christian white girl ... good for you! ..... the us elite are not that bad after all, are they ?

Re: # 44

masada complex, here is the poitn:
(a) place of birth pakistan - in Brit passport
(b) he has been to pakistan (a number of times in the last 10 years) - that in itself is not wrong - but he did state in interviews that "all his family is in the UK".
(c) given the above he has been visiting the US a number of times.

with this profile it dont matter Masada - black brown green yellow or blue you will be frisked body searched and cavities lit up.

Let me also state that he was similarly treated when he went to the GCC on work! In fact the GCC was worse than the States.

I personally do not go anywhere near the GCC - I dislike the guys a lot for the treatment they meet out purely based on colour of skin (which is almost not there in the US or the civilised world).

So if you want to see real discrimination based on colour of skin go arab - and see what happens. There is ajoke which says: Arabs, US, UK, Whites, other arabs, God, yellows (japs and chinese), brownies (muslims)(desis), blacks (muslims), the rest of the wolrd. This is the heirarchy in the UMMAH world. So please stop this "colour of skin" shit - in the US. You talking through the wrong hole friend....

Re: # 44

masada complex, here is the poitn:
(a) place of birth pakistan - in Brit passport
(b) he has been to pakistan (a number of times in the last 10 years) - that in itself is not wrong - but he did state in interviews that "all his family is in the UK".
(c) given the above he has been visiting the US a number of times.

with this profile it dont matter Masada - black brown green yellow or blue you will be frisked body searched and cavities lit up.

Let me also state that he was similarly treated when he went to the GCC on work! In fact the GCC was worse than the States.

I personally do not go anywhere near the GCC - I dislike the guys a lot for the treatment they meet out purely based on colour of skin (which is almost not there in the US or the civilised world).

So if you want to see real discrimination based on colour of skin go arab - and see what happens. There is ajoke which says: Arabs, US, UK, Whites, other arabs, God, yellows (japs and chinese), brownies (muslims)(desis), blacks (muslims), the rest of the wolrd. This is the heirarchy in the UMMAH world. So please stop this "colour of skin" shit - in the US. You talking through the wrong hole friend....

Arjun#30

You could not come up with anything meaningful so TSA is the best what your moronic brain can come up with.

If you want to hate Muslims with a passion at least put some intelligent thought to it otherwise it just makes you look like an imbecile who hates because he cannot channel his own inadequacies positively.

But then I am asking for something that is beyond your intellectual comprehension.
Wait what’s your answer to this : TSA- Wow this answer must have thrown your brain in a delirium for what must have seemed like eons.