Justice for Pakistanis in Greece
With reference to reports in your esteemed newspaper on August 18 and 19 concerning the alleged maltreatment of seven Pakistani nationals by the local authorities (which have also erroneously referred to Javed Aslam as the head of the Pakistani community): At the outset, I would like to point out that that Pakistani Community Ittehad, a local association of Pakistanis, does not have a president at this stage. In elections held on June 26, which were marred by violence and poll-rigging, Javed Aslam received 4,000 out of more than 11,000 votes polled on that day. I was one of the four candidates for the post of president of the association. Along with two other candidates, I have appealed to a local court in Athens challenging the the fraudulent outcome of the elections. The court has accepted our case for a regular hearing on November 24. As the matter is sub-judice, nobody can claim to be head of the Pakistani community nor should be projected as such. When I came to know about the incident, I immediately asked the Pakistani Embassy to take action on the matter. I did so despite the fact that the seven Pakistani nationals are die-hard supporters of Javed Aslam. I have been assured by the Pakistani Embassy that they are in contact with all concerned to ensure that the matter is properly investigated and remedial measures are taken. Through your newspaper, I would like to ask all concerned not to exploit the situation to their advantage. Rather, we should allow the investigations underway to take their logical conclusion. I am confident that justice will be done to my compatriots by the Greek legal system, which is Javed Irfani Menidi, Athens
