THIS is in response to the article ‘Pakistani-Canadians: falling below the poverty line’ (May 16, Dawn.com) by Murtaza Haider. I am a chartered accountant in Canada and am of Pakistani origin. I run my own practice in downtown Toronto. I appreciate how Murtaza has brought many facts to the surface and provided statistics on Pakistani-born immigrants.

However, articles on any subject are good only when there is a critical analysis. The article in question is one-sided. It only blames the Pakistanis and whatever is happening in Pakistan for all the immigration statistics presented. It does not show the other side of the picture where covert policies are being used by the Canadian government and even by some other governments in the world. A good example is that of France. I agree that many Pakistanis are making much more than they declare, which is bad practice as well.

However, the writer has missed some very important points and that, I am afraid, gives a western point of view to his article.

Most readers must be aware that the Muslim population has been soaring in Canada and in Europe. Seeing this, the Canadian and other governments decided to take measures a few years ago. They have started covert policies to stop Muslim immigration to Canada and other countries. The Pakistanis also get hurt due to this covert policy as 97 per cent of Pakistan’s population is Muslim. There are many indicators to prove my point. One factor readers can see is spousal sponsorship. The Canadians take four months to approve spousal cases for China, six months for India but 26 months for Pakistan.

Does it make any sense, especially when 75 per cent of spousal cases are women waiting to come to Canada?

As for visitor visas, the US embassy in Islamabad takes two weeks to give a visa, the UK also two weeks. But Canada, for which the applications for visa are not more than one-fifth of those for the US and the UK, is taking two months or even more.

Moreover, they introduced this ‘super visa’ for parents which they could grant for 10 years but are not giving for more than two years for Pakistanis in substantially all the cases. If parents are applying for a normal visa for six months as they don’t want or need super visa, the Canadian High Commission is denying visa and suggesting applying for a super visa. Why is that so? There is no law which mandates parents to apply for a super visa. These are just tactics to discourage.

JEHANZEB ZAFAR Toronto