Ministry of Foreign Affairs is reportedly probing a sexual harassment charge against Pakistan's ambassador to Indonesia Sanaullah on a written complaint filed by a female trade officer of the Customs Group who is now working in Kuwait, sources in the Establishment Division told Business Recorder on Friday.
Additional Secretary (Admin) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ikramullah Mehsud and Senior Joint Secretary of the Establishment Division Rukhsana Rehman are conducting the inquiry, the sources added. The Trade Officer had filed a complaint against the Ambassador in August 2010, but she did not receive any positive response from the relevant ministries. In January this year, she was informed through a telephonic message from Ikramullah Mehsud, followed by a fax advising her to travel to Islamabad 'at the earliest possible'.
In response, she sent the fax message to Secretary Commerce seeking his instructions in this regard. On the same day a fax was sent by Parep Kuwait to Ikramullah Mehsud enclosing her letter and stating that she was required to seek permission from the Minister of Commerce before leaving station. On February 3 this year, she received another telephonic message from Ikramullah Mehsud (ASA), inquiring if she had received the requisite permission to travel to Pakistan. She then received permission from the Commerce Ministry to appear before the inquiry committee.
During the same month, the Trade Officer approached the Senior Joint Secretary Establishment and stated that her complaint against Ambassador Sanaullah had been pending without any action since August 2010. "After 18 of months of complete silence, I have been advised to appear for an 'informal inquiry at the earliest possible'. Justice delayed is justice denied," she complained in her letter to Rukhsana Rehman. She maintained that an inquiry should have been initiated much earlier when she was still posted in Jakarta.
"To advise me to leave my work and travel at short notice to appear for an 'informal inquiry' is only a cause of further inconvenience for me," she added. "In addition I would like to clarify that as an officer of the Ministry of Commerce I had an obligation to follow the rules and procedures of the Ministry and I could leave station only after receiving approval from Secretary Commerce. As a single mother of a five-year-old daughter it is extremely difficult for me to travel on a very short notice. My mother also resides with me and travelling on an immediate basis is very inconvenient for my family and also has financial implications," she maintained.
She stated that she was willing to appear before an inquiry committee. However, if it had taken 18 months to initiate an informal inquiry, another 2-3 weeks should not affect the proceedings. In addition, she emphasised that she stands by her earlier petition and that should also be considered as her statement before this committee.
Sources told this correspondent that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs put pressure on her to withdraw her complaint against the ambassador, but she refused to bow down before any such pressure. This correspondent tried to solicit her viewpoint in this regard without any success. Similarly, the Foreign Office's spokesperson was also unavailable to comment in this regard. Sanaullah, born on September 13, 1953, is married.
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