On Monday June 19 2023 at around 11 am, the news channels suddenly went abuzz with a news item that would be new to most of the people but not for us custom officers who have had the pleasure of working side by side with one of the nastiest agencies in Pakistan i.e. Airport Security Force. In yet another display of high handedness, an institution headed by a member of powers that be, literally brought the working of International Departures Hall at Jinnah International Airport, to a standstill.
For the first time in living memory, three number of flights took off without custom clearance. Custom Officers at International Departures, seemingly annoyed by constant interference from the officials of Airport Security Force, decided to take a stand against the latter’s proclivity to interfere in other institutions’ mandate. one of the Officers of Pakistan Customs who was supposed to join his duty at 8am in the morning, was denied entry to International Departures Hall just because he lodged a complaint against the ASF officials the previous evening and all this was happening in front of the passengers departing from Pakistan. Imagine the spectacle it must have created.
Before going any further, it is pertinent to mention that the sole purpose of the airport security force is to provide security at all the airports in Pakistan. However, they have gradually been encroaching upon other agencies’ mandate for a long time.
Just like the rest of the world, International airports in Pakistan are "Declared International Customs Areas."
However, Pakistan Customs, being a civilian agency, has been left at the mercy of ASF officials having low Intelligence quotient and being unfamiliar with the word ‘facilitation’. Ask any passenger travelling from Pakistan about the nuisance he/she has to face at airports and ASF will top the list.
Ironically, since most of the people are not that educated, they tend to confuse ASF with Custom and therefore the latter has to face allegations of non-facilitation and malpractices. The agency in question has been given unbridled powers in the name of security and all the other agencies including the Civil Aviation Authority are apparently helpless against this ‘mighty’ force.
It is high time that those in the power corridors take note of this malignant phenomenon that has been a constant feature at all the airports in Pakistan and take remedial measures starting with binding the said agency to perform their duties strictly according to their mandate.
For the first time in living memory, three number of flights took off without custom clearance. Custom Officers at International Departures, seemingly annoyed by constant interference from the officials of Airport Security Force, decided to take a stand against the latter’s proclivity to interfere in other institutions’ mandate. one of the Officers of Pakistan Customs who was supposed to join his duty at 8am in the morning, was denied entry to International Departures Hall just because he lodged a complaint against the ASF officials the previous evening and all this was happening in front of the passengers departing from Pakistan. Imagine the spectacle it must have created.
Before going any further, it is pertinent to mention that the sole purpose of the airport security force is to provide security at all the airports in Pakistan. However, they have gradually been encroaching upon other agencies’ mandate for a long time.
Just like the rest of the world, International airports in Pakistan are "Declared International Customs Areas."
However, Pakistan Customs, being a civilian agency, has been left at the mercy of ASF officials having low Intelligence quotient and being unfamiliar with the word ‘facilitation’. Ask any passenger travelling from Pakistan about the nuisance he/she has to face at airports and ASF will top the list.
Ironically, since most of the people are not that educated, they tend to confuse ASF with Custom and therefore the latter has to face allegations of non-facilitation and malpractices. The agency in question has been given unbridled powers in the name of security and all the other agencies including the Civil Aviation Authority are apparently helpless against this ‘mighty’ force.
It is high time that those in the power corridors take note of this malignant phenomenon that has been a constant feature at all the airports in Pakistan and take remedial measures starting with binding the said agency to perform their duties strictly according to their mandate.