SHARJAH - An expatriate Pakistani who is currently stranded in United Arab Emirates owing to immigration woes has accused the Pakistani embassy of not cooperating with him in order to take him back to his homeland.
Gulzaib Khan Lodhi who arrived in UAE some 8 years ago with dreams of transforming his life is now finding ways to get back to Pakistan, but has not managed to do so since the last four years.
What’s restricting the three-hour journey is the alleged mistreatment meted out to him by another Pakistani businessman, Zaheer Iqbal who recruited him for his company, lured him into investment and finally left him high and dry.
Gulzaib's work permit bearing 'BAN'
Lodhi claims that the accused Zaheer Iqbal, who also happens to be his brother-in-law, hired people for his company dealing in aluminum glass fittings in Sharjah through a local Kafeel and then subjected them to professional abuse.
Revealing his own story, Lodhi continued that he landed in UAE and invested around 200 to 300K PKR with Zaheer for his company but hastened to add that he had no proof of his investment as he did not bother about that due to close affiliation.
Gulzaib's request to Ministry of Justice UAE
"I invested in his company and worked for him for around 2 years but now I want to go back but Zaheer is not permitting return visa as his endorsement is necessary for travelling back to Pakistan," said Gulzaib, and added that he moved Pakistani embassy, consulate and Pakistan Association Dubai in this regard but to no avail.
He claimed moving labour court seeking justice but to his dismay, no order was passed to compel the accused allow him to return back.
اسلام علیکم. اپیل چیف جسٹس آف پاکستان .وزیراعظم پاکستان آرمی چیف آف پاکستان.سے گزارش ہے کہ 5 سال سے مجهے یرغمال بنایا ہوا ہے.میری مدد کریں. pic.twitter.com/R8t9cdcE9k
Lodhi also provided Daily Pakistan with the documents regarding his court proceedings and claimed that as the accused Zaheer did not allow him to go back, he was facing a hefty fine worth AED 60,000 which was increeasing by 25 AED per day.
The victim claimed that his mother died a few months back but even then, the recruiter did not allow him to travel back.
"I have a four year old son but I have not seen him," added Lodhi.
Copy of Zaheer's passport
In a video message, the victim maintained that he was not the only one suffering at the hands of Zaheer but many others were also tricked into his plot.
Lodhi went on and claimed that he met an accident a few months ago but the medical treatment he received was not of the required standard.
In an exclusive conversation with Daily Pakistan, he claimed contacting human rights activist Ansar Burni and media channels but all in vain. Urging an early solution of his problem, he enlisted the help of relevant authorities and immigration officials so he can land back in Pakistan for his treatment.
When we dug further into the details to investigate whether Lodhi was the only one suffering at the hands of Zaheer, scores of victims popped up who substantiated the claims of Gulzaib and revealed their own stories as well.
Gulzaib's work permit
Another Sharjah-based Pakistani named Tassawar Iqbal claimed that he used to work from dawn to dusk for Zaheer but was not even provided adequate food.
According to his claims, he worked for 8-10 months but returned in 2008 due to inappropriate work conditions.
‘I have no contact with Zaheer from 2008’ added Iqbal.
Just to make sure whether Zaheer was being conspired against, we got in touch with another Pakistani, who is currently based in Saudi Arabia but had been blacklisted by Zaheer from UAE, a few years ago.
Azeem Ahmed Khan, disclosed that he invested a staggering 16,000 AED with Zaheer before 2011 and worked from him for around two years, but ‘was not given a single penny as compensation’ and he was blacklisted from entering UAE by Zaheer.
To maintain impartiality, we also talked to the accused Zaheer to have his stance as well but were met with a cold response.
When questioned further, he confirmed that the accuser was his brother-in-law and such figures are honoured in our society.
But we remained adamant, we were met with a rude response.
"Publish, whatever you want to publish and please make it a headline," Zaheer boasted in an audio message received to Daily Pakistan.
Gulzaib Khan Lodhi, after showing his documents, pleaded the relevant officials enlisting their help so he can get back to Pakistan and have proper medical treatment.
He claims that the fine can be slashed by a major amount provided the Kafeel seeks such through immigration vehicles.
