Safriz
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- Aug 30, 2010
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I am a British Pakistani and hadn't been to Pakistan for over a decade.
Last year I visited for two weeks along with my boys. The two lads went to Pakistan for the first time and asked me to show them Pakistan army.
They had heard a lot of good things about Pakistan and Pakistan army ,mainly from me , as we British Pakistanis strive to keep that link to Pakistan alive in our next generation.
While in Pakistan I tried to trace some of my old friends i knew have joined army and must be on good ranks. I traced one who had joined Air force and found out he lived an hours drive from me . So I thought if i meet him, may be he could us a tour of an air force base as he knew me very well.
Rented a car and drove to his house. It took me three hours to reach there due to crazy traffic and my careful British driving.
When reached the locality I told he lived , I had to ask around to find his house and after some struggle i was directed towards a Narrow lane and told the air force officer i was looking for , lives in that house. Knocked the door and a toddler came out, I could instinctively tell the little boy was closely related to my old friend as he looked like him. I asked the boy if he knew Mr.x and he told me he is my dad. I was excited to hear that and asked him if he can go and tell his dad my name. He went inside and came back after a few minutes, asking me to write my name and number on a piece of paper as his dad was posted in an airbase few hours drive away, and that my details will be passed on to his dad. I asked him if i could get his dad's phone number so that I could call him. He said no we are strictly not allowed to give out our dads phone number. That was the nd of it. I wrote down my contact details hoping to get a call back. I waited for a week and I never got any call from him. May be nobody forwarded my details to him, or may be he didn't want to contact me.
The next week, still wanting to show my boys a glimpse of Pakistan army, I rang up ISPR. Told the operator i am a British Pakistani, visiting Pakistan after very long time and it just happens that my two boys want to see an army base, and that I can come with all forms of ID including my foreign and national passports. The operator Gave me a Lt.Colonels name and a landline number and asked me to call him and he will be able to help me. I immediately rang the number, which was promptly attended. The officer at the other end listened to me asked a few questions and then asked me to call back tomorrow as he is about to go to a meeting. Excited and hopeful, I rang him the next day and rang all day a few times, but the call wasn't picked up. Now I only had five more days , so the next morning I rang up ISPR, it was the same operator i talked to the first time and he recognised my voice. I told him the Lt.Col landline isn't being attended, and he gave me a mobile number of same officer and asked to call him. Again I immediately rang the number, the Lt.Col attended and as Soon as I started talking,he hung up. I tried many times the rest of my days in Pakistan and he never attended my call again.
That was it. My boys were very disappointed, o waisted lots of my time in calling ISPR and the numbers they gave me , to no avail.
20 years ago I could walk into most army bases after merely saying hi to the sentry on the gate , who would randomly look at me and then look away. Now army bases are like forts, surrounded by high walls. I randomly drove to a nearby army base, where I did my NCC back in the days and asked the sentry if I can have a drive through just to refresh my old memories, and I was asked to just turn round and go away
.
Does anyone has any ideas if I want to take my boys to an army base for a visit, the next time I come to Pakistan, what should I do?
Last year I visited for two weeks along with my boys. The two lads went to Pakistan for the first time and asked me to show them Pakistan army.
They had heard a lot of good things about Pakistan and Pakistan army ,mainly from me , as we British Pakistanis strive to keep that link to Pakistan alive in our next generation.
While in Pakistan I tried to trace some of my old friends i knew have joined army and must be on good ranks. I traced one who had joined Air force and found out he lived an hours drive from me . So I thought if i meet him, may be he could us a tour of an air force base as he knew me very well.
Rented a car and drove to his house. It took me three hours to reach there due to crazy traffic and my careful British driving.
When reached the locality I told he lived , I had to ask around to find his house and after some struggle i was directed towards a Narrow lane and told the air force officer i was looking for , lives in that house. Knocked the door and a toddler came out, I could instinctively tell the little boy was closely related to my old friend as he looked like him. I asked the boy if he knew Mr.x and he told me he is my dad. I was excited to hear that and asked him if he can go and tell his dad my name. He went inside and came back after a few minutes, asking me to write my name and number on a piece of paper as his dad was posted in an airbase few hours drive away, and that my details will be passed on to his dad. I asked him if i could get his dad's phone number so that I could call him. He said no we are strictly not allowed to give out our dads phone number. That was the nd of it. I wrote down my contact details hoping to get a call back. I waited for a week and I never got any call from him. May be nobody forwarded my details to him, or may be he didn't want to contact me.
The next week, still wanting to show my boys a glimpse of Pakistan army, I rang up ISPR. Told the operator i am a British Pakistani, visiting Pakistan after very long time and it just happens that my two boys want to see an army base, and that I can come with all forms of ID including my foreign and national passports. The operator Gave me a Lt.Colonels name and a landline number and asked me to call him and he will be able to help me. I immediately rang the number, which was promptly attended. The officer at the other end listened to me asked a few questions and then asked me to call back tomorrow as he is about to go to a meeting. Excited and hopeful, I rang him the next day and rang all day a few times, but the call wasn't picked up. Now I only had five more days , so the next morning I rang up ISPR, it was the same operator i talked to the first time and he recognised my voice. I told him the Lt.Col landline isn't being attended, and he gave me a mobile number of same officer and asked to call him. Again I immediately rang the number, the Lt.Col attended and as Soon as I started talking,he hung up. I tried many times the rest of my days in Pakistan and he never attended my call again.
That was it. My boys were very disappointed, o waisted lots of my time in calling ISPR and the numbers they gave me , to no avail.
20 years ago I could walk into most army bases after merely saying hi to the sentry on the gate , who would randomly look at me and then look away. Now army bases are like forts, surrounded by high walls. I randomly drove to a nearby army base, where I did my NCC back in the days and asked the sentry if I can have a drive through just to refresh my old memories, and I was asked to just turn round and go away
.Does anyone has any ideas if I want to take my boys to an army base for a visit, the next time I come to Pakistan, what should I do?
