PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution asking the federal government to withdraw the condition of acquiring no objection certificate for foreign delegates to visit the province.

Through the resolution, the house condemned the federal government for not letting head of the Department for International Development (DFID) in Pakistan Richard Montgomery visit Peshawar where he was to attend an important meeting in the day.

“The federal government should facilitate the visit of foreign delegates to KP, while it is the responsibility of the provincial government to provide them security,” read the resolution.

Condemns centre for not letting DFID chief come to Peshawar

The house unanimously passed the resolution after Speaker Asad Qaiser put it to vote.

After tabling the resolution, senior minister Inayatullah Khan said the DFID head was scheduled to have meeting with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, several ministers and secretaries to discuss different issues but the important meeting didn’t take place as the interior ministry refused to issue the foreign dignitary NOC for KP visit.

“The federal government has stigmatised KP by not allowing foreigners to visit it,” he said.

The minister asked if foreign delegates could go anywhere in Punjab and Sindh, why their visit to KP had been linked to the NOC’s issuance.

He said international organisations had been working for the rehabilitation of militancy-affected areas, then why the federal government created hurdles to their activities.

The minister said it was the responsibility of the KP government to provide security to foreigners during their visit to the province.

Mufti Fazl Ghafoor of the JUI-F said international organisations had been spending own money to develop KP but the centre was creating problems for them.

“The delegates of international organisations should be allowed to visit our province after security clearance,” he said. The lawmaker demanded the federal government stop unfair attitude towards KP.

He said a delegation of provincial lawmakers should raise the issue with the federal government’s representatives in the ‘best public interest’.

Saleem Khan of the PPP said the law and order situation had significantly improved in the province and therefore, the federal government shouldn’t be reluctant in allowing foreigners to visit KP.

By passing another resolution, the house demanded that the federal government unblock the Computerised National Identity Cards of hundreds of thousands of Pakhtuns, who are in distress in the absence of CNICs.

The resolution was tabled by senior minister Inayatullah Khan. Reading out the resolution, the minister said Nadra had blocked ID cards of a large number of people on suspicion.

He said the blocking of CNICs had been increasing day by day instead of reduction.

The minister said Nadra blocked cards though the relevant elected representatives had informed it about knowing such people as Pakistanis for decades.

“Due to the blocking of CNICs, the movement of a large number of Pakhtuns has been restricted to their homes and villages as law-enforcement agencies arrest them over failure to produce cards,” he said.

The minister said in the absence of ID cards, the people were unable to apply for jobs, while many people working in Middle East lost jobs when they came to Pakistan and couldn’t go back due to the blocking of their CNICs by Nadra.

“The interior ministry should immediately stop this injustice being meted out to our people,” he said.

He demanded that the federal government form a committee to probe the matter and immediately release the blocked ID cards.

The resolution was passed unanimously.

Speaking on an adjournment motion, MPA Askar Pervez drew the provincial government’s attention towards the chief minister’s announcement he had made to give Rs100 million grant for the rehabilitation of the victims of the Sept 22, 2013, twin suicide blasts at Pesahwar’s All Saints Church.

The mover said despite the lapse of three years, the amount of money hadn’t been released.

He said the suicide blast victims were Christians, who had long been looking to the government for the payment of grant.

The house referred the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Bill 2016 to its select committee for detailed discussion after many members proposed amendments to it.

The bill was moved by parliamentary law secretary Arif Yousaf.

The house also passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill 2016. Speaker Asad Qaiser later adjourned the session until Friday.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2016