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ISLAMABAD: As the controversy over hundreds of thousands of blocked computerised national identity cards (CNICs) refuses to die, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has revealed that a total of 174,184 such cards belong to ‘confirmed aliens’ and are being cancelled while the rest will be unblocked on Monday for a temporary period of sixty days.
At a press conference on Thursday, he touched on various issues including policing powers for Rangers in Sindh, a new probe into the case against M/s Khanani and Kalia and disappearance of aides to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Asif Ali Zardari.
He said the blocked CNICs were a little over 350,000, pointing out that almost half of the holders were confirmed aliens.
“We have all the documentary evidence and facts with us,” he said and asked the opposition not to do politics on an issue of national security.
Chaudhry Nisar said that people carrying the temporarily unblocked CNICs would go through a procedure within 60 days to prove they are bona fide Pakistanis. He said the documents required as proof of the citizenship included land ownership record, domicile and academic certificates, identity card, passport, arms licence or driving licence issued to them before 1978, or proof of a government job of their own or some relative before 1990.
Nisar says no deal on Dr Asim and Ayyan has been reached with PPP
He said gone were the days when Pakistani citizenship was sold for a few thousand rupees, adding that issuance of fake CNICs to aliens was a national crime. He said that an exercise meant to cleanse the mess of the past must not be given an ethnic colour and pointed out that 125,000 CNICs of non-Pakhtuns had also been blocked.
He emphasised that all Pashtu-speaking people were not Pakistani, adding that many among the 3.5 million Afghan refugees had also got Pakistani CNICs and passports.
He said that 3,640 aliens had surrendered their nationality for fear of law which included 3,579 Afghans, 58 Bangladeshis and one each Indian, Indonesian and Iraqi citizens.
The minister explained that the campaign was directed against aliens and not Pakhtuns. “We are all pro-Pakhtuns. Pakhtuns are a pillar of the country loved for their hard work and loyalty.”
He said that hatred among ethnic communities should not be promoted for petty political gains.
Answering a question about delay in extending policing powers to the Sindh Rangers, he said the federal government’s policy on the matter was very clear. The Rangers, he said, had played a pivotal role in restoration of peace in Karachi and the good work must continue. He regretted that an issue was created every time the term of those powers expired. He said the interior ministry was in touch with the Sindh government, but notification to this effect was yet to be issued.
Chaudhry Nisar dispelled the impression that the release of Dr Asim Hussain and removal of model Ayyan Ali’s name from the exit control list were the result of some deal between the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the PPP. He said it had been done by courts. “Has the government struck a deal with courts,” he asked sarcastically.
About the disappearance of Mr Zardari’s three aides, he said enforced disappearance was not a policy of the government. “Abduction of people like this is against the law.”
He pointed out that two of the three men had been picked up in Sindh, highlighting that law and order was a provincial subject.
He said that investigation into the case about the third aide who was kidnapped in Islamabad was continuing and some clues had been found.
He said that Inter-Services Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau had been contacted on the matter. The case will come up for hearing before a court on April 24 and if the person was not recovered by that time, the available evidence would be shared with the court.
Referring to the Khanani and Kalia money laundering scam, he said a new inquiry with a different angle has been launched and efforts for international assistance were under way.
Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2017
