Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday informed Senate in a written reply that — contrary to media reports that Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor had been carrying a Pakistan passport and National Identity Card (NIC) — it had emerged that the card had actually been issued to a man named Muhammad Wali, son of Shah Muhammad.

The minister said in the statement that a departmental inquiry against all National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) officials involved in issuing the 'fake' NIC had been completed. At least three officials had been handed a "major punishment" — removal from service. The minister said cases have also been registered against the accused and judicial proceedings are ongoing in the case.

Responding to the minister's assurances, Senator Farhatullah Babar was not satisfied that action had only been taken against lower-level Nadra employees.

"This is not the solution to the problem," he said, asking that the government should investigate who gave the orders for the card to be issued, if it was not already doing so.

The Senate was further told that a total of 65,003 'fake' NICs had been found circulating in the country, of which Punjab accounted for 20,865; Sindh for 15,579; Balochistan for 11,859; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for 10,884; Fata for 3,834; Islamabad for 1,087; Azad Jammu and Kashmir for 832; and Gilgit Baltistan for only 63.

Circumscribed organisations

Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told the senators that a total of 65 organisations are currently scheduled in the government's 'proscribed' list while six are under observation. He said Jamaatud Dawa and the Falaah-i-Insaniat Foundation had changed their name to re-enter the mainstream, after which they had been included in Schedule 2.

"Taking action against proscribed organisations is the responsibility of the provincial governments," he told senators. "The Interior Ministry receives reports on the activities of these organisations, and it duly apprises the National Counter-terrorism Authority and provincial governments of any concerning developments."