I came to know that I didn´t have my passport stamped with German visa only when I approached the airline officials at Abu Dhabi airport to get boarding pass to fly to Frankfurt. [break]
A Hindi-speaking official of the airlines then told me that I did not have visa to enter Germany. I felt devastated. I never checked whether my travel documents were in place before the airline official told me. I was accompanied by my wife.
Then I decided to return to Nepal and asked the airline official to cancel the air tickets to Frankfurt. I then arranged tickets for Nepal.
I was about to board a Kathmandu-bound plane when officials from our embassy came searching for me. I asked them to arrange visa to go to Germany as I wanted to attend the meeting. The meeting was important. I am flying to Frankfurt later today (Wednesday). Officials at the UAE embassy worked on war-footing way to make the arrangements.
This is not a case involving a minister, it is an issue linked to the country´s prestige. It happened due to weakness in our system. The individuals who were supposed to take responsibility for the program did not carry out the duty honestly. I have already directed a probe. I will punish the guilty once I return from Germany on Friday.
I am worried that the incident has been reported in a bad light. I have taken the media coverage of the incident as an attempt to attack the government and friendly relations between Nepal and the UAE. I was not detained at the airport as reported by a section of Nepali media. The officials at the airport respected and helped me. I appreciate that.
I had given my tickets, passport and luggage to my personal secretaries an hour before departure. I trusted them. But now I see they did not work honestly.
I am concerned over the quality of journalism.
The way the incident has been reported in the Nepali media shows that they lack quality despite growth in quantity.
As told to Kiran Chapagain over phone from UAE.
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