ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Friday asked New Delhi to explain why it had hurled false allegations against Pakistan before investigations into the attack on a military base in India-held Kashmir had even begun.

“Pakistan has nothing to answer for, it is for India to provide explanations,” Mr Nisar said at a press conference.

He asked how Pakistan could act when India did not have any proof. “They had just levelled an accusation to defame Pakistan and their media was gagged after its blatant lies were exposed.”

He was referring to an order, issued by the Indian defence ministry, asking all media outlets to pre-verify “all contents relating to the Indian army”, irrespective of their source. The move came after The Indian Express carried a story refuting the Indian Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen Ranbir Singh’s statement that the weapons recovered from the Uri terrorists bore Pakistani markings.

The minister also said that Islamabad would send Interpol a reference seeking the custody of Baloch Republican Party chief Brahamdagh Bugti, who is currently living in exile in Switzerland. Talking about reports that Mr Bugti’s application for asylum in India was being considered by New Delhi, he said the nexus between the two stood exposed.

Says Pakistan will seek Brahamdagh’s custody from Interpol

He claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent remarks about Balochistan, which were welcomed by Mr Bugti, exposed who was involved in terrorism in Balochistan.

Besides, the interior minister lauded the courageous stand taken by the Dr Farooq Sattar-led Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), saying the party should be given space and their stance against its erstwhile London-based leadership should remove all doubts about their loyalties.

“Anybody who stands up against anti-Pakistan slogans should be supported and given space,” Mr Nisar said, pointing out that in the past, it was unthinkable for the MQM to publicly stand against Altaf Hussain.

He said that an inquiry was under way regarding the death of an MQM worker while in Rangers custody. Talking about the drive to demolish the MQM offices, he said the Sindh chief minister had issued directions to demolish illegally constructed offices.

He said the action was not merely targeting the MQM, but that offices of Peo­ple’s Aman Committee had also been demolished, adding that all these offices had been established illegally.

He said that Rangers and army personnel would be deployed in Punjab where required, however, discussions on their standard operating procedures (SOPs) would continue in the days ahead.

Talking about a recent incident involving a scuffle between motorway police and army officers, the minister said he took the matter very seriously.

“It is a test case for the image and discipline of the armed forces. It is also a test case for the General Headquarters,” he remarked. He said the motorway police had a good reputation and was never unfair to anyone. Not only should the matter be inquired into, but action should be taken against those found responsible, he said.

As per his information, he said, a joint investigation team had already been formed to investigate the incident and praised Army Chief General Raheel Sharif for setting good precedents.

CNIC reverification

The interior minister claimed that of a total of 105 million computerised national identity cards (CNICs), 82.5 million had been verified in less than three months. He was optimistic that the process would be completed in about four months.

He said that 200,000 fake CNICs had been identified so far while 2,000 foreign nationals had voluntarily surrendered fake documents.

He said 29,000 aliens had been issued Pakistani passports, but did not say whether all these passports had been cancelled now or if the process was still ongoing.

He said that 18 Nadra employees responsible for issuing hundreds of fake CNICs each had been identified. Eight of them had been arrested while the others had either secured pre-arrest bail or disappeared, he claimed, adding that these individuals had betrayed the state and such a heinous crime was intolerable.

He said that many of the fake IDs issued to aliens had been used for terrorism, adding that official passports were issued to “irrelevant people”, which had been misused for human smuggling.

Published in Dawn September 24th, 2016