QUETTA: The national identity cards (NICs) of a large number of people who are not Pakistani have been blocked, Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti says.

Speaking on a resolution moved in the Balochistan Assembly by Syed Liaquat Ali Agha of the Pashtun­khwa Milli Awami Party on Friday, he said Pakistan had earned a bad name after its national identity card was found on Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour who was killed in a US drone attack last year while travelling between Taftan and the Dalbandin area of Chagai in Balochistan.

The minister conceded that a large number of people from other provinces had also got domicile and local certificates for getting jobs in the federal services on Balochisan’s quota. However, he said no institution of the country had a right to commit atrocities with the people of Pakistan.

He said the federal government and authorities concerned would be approached to find a solution to the issue.

He asked the mover to withdraw his resolution.

The resolution had demanded that the National Database and Registration Authority and other institutions involved in blocking the NICs, especially of Pakhtuns across the country, should unblock them at the earliest.

Treasury and oppositions members supported the resolution and protested over the blocking of NICs of the citizens.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2017