Zubair Qureshi
Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Athar Minallah on Friday expressed his wonder over lack of preparation and ignorance of on part of a senior official of the Interior Ministry (a joint secretary) with regard to the US blogger and journalist Cynthia Ritchi’s visa status.
On the last date of hearing, June 26, Friday, the court had sought an explanation from the Ministry of Interior about the status and terms and conditions of the visa issued to US blogger Cynthia D Ritchie and fixed the date for July 3.
However, though a senior official of the Interior Ministry, a Joint Secretary appeared on behalf of the ministry yet he expressed his ignorance regarding what process is adopted when date of a foreigner’s visa expires or how many such visa extensions applications are pending with the ministry due to unusual circumstance caused by coronavirus.
Either you have come unprepared or you don’t have the information, remarked Justice Athar Minallah.
The US blogger along with her lawyer Imran Feroz Malik was present in the courtroom and her counsel informed the court she had submitted an application for visa extension with the ministry and it was under process. The counsel for the petitioner Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmed, who is seeking deportation of Cynthia Ritchie for her statements on political matters and on expiry of her business visa, Sardar Lateef Khosa drew the court’s attention to Cynthia’s statements about Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and asked the court to stop her from passing such statement. The judge however, told him at present that matter was not before the court. The court later directing the Interior Ministry’s official to come with a clear stance on Cynthia Ritchie’s application on the next date of hearing and adjourned the case until next Friday July 10.
In his petition, Chauhdry Iftikhar has taken the stance that Ritchie is not a registered voter but she has been allowed and facilitated to interfere and comment on political matters.
It has been argued that she is being facilitated to tarnish the image of the country by bringing the country’s political leadership into disrepute through false and concocted statements/allegations.
Later, talking to Pakistan Observer, Cynthia Ritchie said everything that appears on social media is meaningless and there is so much negativity on social media. “I am struggling for the women and children of Pakistan and want to see them live and prosper in a harassment-free Pakistan,” said she making an implicit reference to what she has been facing in the past at the hands of some politicians.
