With several Pakistanis approaching Sushma Swaraj directly to get medical visas almost on a daily basis, the External Affairs Minister on Friday asked them why is their Foreign Adviser Sartaj Aziz not helping them in even serious medical cases. And a Pakistani national went on to criticise her own Government terming it to be corrupt and saying that the people in her country do not even know if anyone like Sartaj Aziz exists.
It so happened that a Pakistani woman, Hijaab Asif, through her Twitter handle pleaded with Swaraj to grant a medical visa to her relative who was seriously ill and could not present himself at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad for visa.
“Dear maam we’ve applied visa for india, the condition of patient is not good we’ve got invitation kindly grant us visa,” tweeted one Syed ali Mohd Taqvi, which Asif retweeted. “Dear ma’am, spoke to DHC in Isalamabad, told the patient's current condition and he said it's all up to you. If you allow. he would give us the visas right away. Ma'am please take a look into this. We are ready to provide you with any medical verifications or whatsoever by being present at IHC in Islamabad. We need your help, the patient's very serious," Asif added.
Responding to the tweet, Swaraj took a dig at Aziz: "Did Sartaj Aziz not give a letter approving an Indian visa even in such a serious case as yoursIJ" What followed was an interesting thread of messages from Asif that possibly took even Swaraj by surprise. "Nobody in our government is maam @SushmaSwaraj we have #SartajAziz who nobody knows even exists or not," Asif wrote.
Swaraj intervened and asked High Commissioner Gautam Bamabwale on Twitter itself to grant visa to the patient. This led Asif to praise the Indian government and Swaraj. "@SushmaSwaraj what do I call youIJ SuperwomanIJ GodIJ No words to describe your generosity! love you maam Can't stop praising you in tears," Asif said.
"Our government is corrupt, we don't hate India. I've been to India and I swear I love India and the Indians. In fact, everyone here does!!.... Indeed! Haven't seen a woman like her before, despite all the conflicts, she didn't stop doing the great work! long live maam… lots and lots of love and respect from here. Wish you were our Prime Minister, this country would've changed!" she added.
Swaraj has gained so much popularity among Pakistanis that they are now requesting her directly for help, particularly in getting medical visas for which India has put a rider that it must be supported with a letter from Pakistan Foreign Adviser Aziz.