PESHAWAR, Jan 2: The elders of Ahmadzai nomad tribe, commonly known as Kuchi, have threatened to hold protest outside Parliament House in Islamabad if they were no issued Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs).  

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Haji Inayat Kuchi, chief of the tribe, said that they could not transfer their land properties to their names as they didn’t possess CNICs. He said that they had to get registry of their properties in the name of those people, who had identity cards.

“We face serious problems owing to non-issuance of CNICs. The transfer of property of a deceased to his legal heirs is a major issue because our people can’t claim ownership of the property if its registry is issued in the names of others,” he said.

In the past, Kuchi tribe used to move from one country to another and from one place to another within the country but now its members have settled permanently in different provinces of the country. Now Kuchis run different business and most of them deal in fabrics.

The chief of the tribe said that members of his community were running different kinds of business but owing to non-availability of CNICs they could neither open an account in a bank nor get a passport.

“We can’t go for Haj and Umrah to perform our religious duties,” he said. He added that they were deprived of their right to get a national identity card despite the fact that they were Pakistanis. He said that getting a national identity card was their basic right as every state provided that facility to its citizens. Sometimes, he said, police blackmailed them and extorted money from them.

Flanked by Haji Jabbar, Haji Asadullah and other Kuchi elders, Haji Inayat said that Ahmadzai, Akakhel and Sulemankhel were sub-tribes of the same tribe. However, CNICs were issued to Akakhels and Sulemankhels while Ahmadzais were ignored in that regard, he added.

Haji Inayat said that getting education was basic right of every child but Kuchis could not enroll their children in schools as they didn’t possess national identity cards.