Pakistan's "Mother Teresa" Harrased in US

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Edhi faces deportation​

By Our Correspondent


NEW YORK, Jan 28: US authorities have threatened Pakistan’s most respected citizen Abdul Sattar Edhi with deportation, he said.

“I just received a telephone call from someone, telling me that I am being deported,” Mr Edhi, who is now in New York told Dawn.

He said he was stopped at the airport in London when he tried to board a plane for New York on Jan 8.

Mr Edhi then contacted the US Embassy in London who gave him a letter which allowed him to proceed to New York. The letter also advised him to see US authorities on Feb 18 to clear whatever misunderstandings they may have about him.

Mr Edhi arrived in New York on Jan 9 and was detained at the airport for eight hours.

“They were questioning me why I look the way I look,” said Mr Edhi who has a long beard and always wears traditional Pakistani dress along with a traditional cap.

“They also wanted to know why I visit the United States so regularly,” he said. “I told them I am a social worker. What else I do? I only do social work,” said Mr Edhi who has branches of his trust in several US cities.

“If they do not let me work here, I will work somewhere else.”
Edhi faces deportation -DAWN - Top Stories; January 29, 2008

This is bloody ridiculous. All the money the US Govt. has poured into identifying terrorist threats cannot even identify and differentiate between high profile figures like Edhi, and legitimate threats.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

FO takes notice of Edhi’s manhandling in US

Updated at: 1350 PST, Tuesday, January 29, 2008
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Foreign Office has taken serious notice of Maulana Abdul Sattar Edhi's manhandling in US and has strongly urged the US Embassy to let Mr Edhi go. Hectic Efforts are being made to resolve the situation.

In a move that has shocked Pakistanis, famous social worker Maulana Abdul Sattar Edhi's passport and green card have been confiscated by US immigration authorities.

The man known as Pakistan's “Mother Teresa” has been instructed not to exit New York -- after U-S immigration officials held him at JKF airport for 8-12 hours

A spokesman for the Edhi Foundation told Geo News that Mr Edhi was questioned at John F Kennedy airport for not residing in the U-S as required by green card holders.
FO takes notice of Edhi’s manhandling in US

 

[Spring Onion]

They were questioning me why I look the way I look,” said Mr Edhi who has a long beard and always wears traditional Pakistani dress along with a traditional cap.

“They also wanted to know why I visit the United States so regularly,” he said. “I told them I am a social worker. What else I do? I only do social work,” said Mr Edhi who has branches of his trust in several US cities.

“If they do not let me work here, I will work somewhere else.”

Sham on the US authorities indeed.

Above is enough to understand why the shamless authorities stopped him.
Edhi wears very old dress and according some interviews of him i heard him and his wife Abdul Satar Edhi have only few ( 3 to 4) dresses as he spend all he has and donations on Social work while he dosnt own any property or personal bank account.

His organisation is the only one that has Helicopter service for Social Activities i.e for evacuating people from disaster areas and carrying them for medical aid.
if im not wrong his social organisation also provided help during sunami.

 

[IceCold]

We are muslims and moreover pakistanies, therefore in the eyes of the US we are terrorists by default.

 

[roadrunner]

To be fair, a couple of charities have been funding anti-US elements, so the US will probably be a bit weary of this maulana, though it does seem over the top. Innocent until proven guilty.

 

[Introvert]

We are muslims and moreover pakistanies, therefore in the eyes of the US we are terrorists by default.

Who cares what US thinks.

regards,

Baazi.

 

[Trooper]

Who cares what US thinks.

regards,

Baazi.

yes,you are absolutely right!
who cares.U.S only try to rise new disputes and try to subvert the repotation of Pakistan.

 

[IceCold]

Who cares what US thinks.

regards,

Baazi.

Yes we will have to take care of it. You see why, because we did too much and yet we got a treatment like this and even more by the time and we as a nation do need to realize the fact that there isnt any strategic or whatever you would wana call it, relationship with the US and we surely hell need to divertsify our goals from that of the US and for that we need to rise up as a nation because that wont be easy, US would not let its grip on pakistan go away that easily and that is why they they are constantly medeling with our politics. They just want to setup a puppet regime in pakistan who would follow their orders. That is why we hear cries from the US about having westerned style democracy in the country.

 

[genmirajborgza786]

(got this from BBC)

Pakistan aid worker stuck in US
By M Ilyas Khan
BBC News, Karachi
A prominent Pakistani social worker, Abdus Sattar Edhi, says he is stranded in New York because US immigration officials have taken his passport.
Mr Edhi runs the largest social welfare network in Pakistan, and has offices in several countries, including the US.

Officials interrogated him for over eight hours at JFK airport on 9 January and then took his passport, he says.

Mr Edhi told the BBC that while he was allowed to enter the US, the passport has still not been returned to him.

'Interrogation'

"I am a man of emergencies, I need to be on the move, to be where the suffering is, but here I have been sitting idle for 20 days because I cannot travel without my passport," he told the BBC from New York. His Edhi Welfare Trust runs hundreds of ambulances, a helicopter ambulance, as well as homes for children, women, the mentally ill and drug addicts. It has run relief operations in Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus region, eastern Europe and even the US, when it helped provide aid following the New Orleans hurricane of 2005.Mr Edhi said that officials of the Pakistani embassy and the US state department are helping him to recover his confiscated passport."During the interrogation, they wanted to know why I travelled to the US so frequently," he said. "I told them about the nature of my work, but they did not understand. They also wanted to know why I was not living in the US in spite of having a green card."
'Communist'

This is not the first time that Mr Edhi has run into trouble with immigration officials abroad. In 2006, he was detained for 16 hours at an airport in Toronto, Canada, and had to miss his flight. In 2007, he was again detained for eight hours at an airport in New York. On both occasions, his travel documents were not confiscated and he was allowed to proceed after interrogation. In the early 1980s, he was arrested by Israeli troops while entering Lebanon to deliver aid to Palestinian refugees whose camps were attacked by the Israeli jets.He was freed when his credentials were verified. "The only explanation I can think of is my beard and my dress," he said when asked why he had been stopped so often. Once branded as a "communist" by his detractors because of his liberal views and his welfare activities, the 78-year-old sports a flowing beard and dresses strictly in Pakistani shalwar-kameez and a sheepskin skullcap.

Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan aid worker stuck in US

Published: 2008/01/29 12:21:44 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

(this is a really disgusting & highly arrogant act by the immigration authorities)

 

[mujahideen]

It is indeed unfortunate that someone like Mr.Edhi was harrased in the U.S. Every one knows his charity is ligit.

 

[Neo]

This is bloody ridiculous. All the money the US Govt. has poured into identifying terrorist threats cannot even identify and differentiate between high profile figures like Edhi, and legitimate threats.

Prejudice is curse and there's no cure against it.

 

[OKtoBerFeSt]

Its unfortunate, but inevitable that his conservative dressing and beard makes airport officials suspicious. He will be questioned often at airports obviously.

He hasn't been arrested or jailed without evidence...so no cause for complaints.

Its just a precaution. Nothing personal against muslims or Pakistanis

 

[mujahideen]

Its unfortunate, but inevitable that his conservative dressing and beard makes airport officials suspicious. He will be questioned often at airports obviously.

He hasn't been arrested or jailed without evidence...so no cause for complaints.

Its just a precaution. Nothing personal against muslims or Pakistanis

First of all I agree with you that such instances are unfortunate, but what is even more unfortunate is that he was targeted because of the way he looked. Do you really think a terrorist would want to stand out, he would want to blend in with the crowd, so that he wont be noticed. If being conservative is a crime then I guess we are all guilty of committing that crime.
Secondly it could of been a mistake if he was just questioned and let go but instead he was questioned for 9 hours, I mean he is a person well know around the world. I think about 3 or 4 months ago, National Geographic had his article is their news paper, and almost every Noble Peace Prize he gets votes, now I am sure it doesn't take 9 hours to figure this out.
And thirdly the main reason he was question was because he was a Muslim and most importantly a Pakistani. Whenever a plane comes from Pakistan or any Muslim country more agents are put at the counters. If we look at the nations under travel advisory 95% of the are Muslim countries.

 

[OKtoBerFeSt]

Do you really think a terrorist would want to stand out, he would want to blend in with the crowd, so that he wont be noticed. If being conservative is a crime then I guess we are all guilty of committing that crime.

ITs not a crime, which is why he hasn't been arrested. However, it is not true that all terrorists try to hide their identity.

The best examples would be the radical mullahs in Britain, who strut their stuff regardless of what they think at airports.

Secondly it could of been a mistake if he was just questioned and let go but instead he was questioned for 9 hours, I mean he is a person well know around the world. I think about 3 or 4 months ago, National Geographic had his article is their news paper, and almost every Noble Peace Prize he gets votes, now I am sure it doesn't take 9 hours to figure this out.

I don't think an ordinary airport security guy can be expected to know social workers by sight. Do you know the names of any famous Belgian or South African (for example) social worker? I don't think so.

And thirdly the main reason he was question was because he was a Muslim and most importantly a Pakistani. Whenever a plane comes from Pakistan or any Muslim country more agents are put at the counters. If we look at the nations under travel advisory 95% of the are Muslim countries.

Well, there are reasons for that...

 

[mujahideen]

ITs not a crime, which is why he hasn't been arrested. However, it is not true that all terrorists try to hide their identity.

The best examples would be the radical mullahs in Britain, who strut their stuff regardless of what they think at airports.

I don't think an ordinary airport security guy can be expected to know social workers by sight. Do you know the names of any famous Belgian or South African (for example) social worker? I don't think so.

Well, there are reasons for that...

I could care less about it being a crime or not, what it more important is that such things should not happen again.
Almost all terrorists try to hide their identity. They would want to blend in, not stand out, because like I said before they will be caught.
As far as the ordinary airport guy is concerned, I honestly dont expect him to know anything, but the part which is disturbing is that he was questioned 9 long hours. In this time they should of must a background check, which takes probably 1 hour,2. It doesn't take that long.
Can you please give me the reasons why Muslim countries are under advisory?