A fake envoy to prime minister was caught red-handed in London while representing the government of Pakistan at a ceremony organised to sign an agreement with the Sikh community.
Hamid Kidwai, who posed himself as Special Envoy to Prime Minister Imran Khan, was co-chairing a meeting along with Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall President Gurmail Singh Malhi when a journalist at the meeting asked him to prove his official identity first and that whether he has been formally designated by the government of Pakistan to sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Sikh community living in the UK for commercial hotel developments around historical Gurdwaras in Pakistan, especially Nankana Sahib and Karatarpur Corridor ahead of the 550th Gurpurb celebrations of Guru Nanak Devji.
“Yes, it is true that this ceremony has not been organised at the official level … in fact time was so short and things moved so fast that no discussion took place at the government level. But, we verbally discussed it with Prime Minister Imran Khan and he gave his consent for this visit. On our return, this would be formalized,” a visibly perplexed Qidwai replied. “Yes, this is all verbal so far. But, will definitely be formalized once we are back in Islamabad and give our feedback to the prime minister,” he responded to further queries.
Published in Daily Times, January 19th 2019.
