Interior Minister ChaudhryNisar Ali Khan has said that a total of 353,085 Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) had been blocked so far, of which 178,891 were being unblocked temporarily for 60 days, while the remaining 174,084 cards of foreigners were cancelled.He said the decision was made in the light of recommendations of the parliamentary committee constituted to review CINCs’ blocking issue.He said that the people whose CNICs were being unblocked for now would have to provide documentary evidence about their Pakistani nationality within 60 days.The evidentiary proof to establish that the holder of an unblocked CINC was a Pakistani national could be family record from the revenue department, land record before 1978, domicile, education certificate, passport, national identity card, weapon or driving licence and service record of his or his family members, he added. He said the holders of blocked CNICs could also file appeals if they had any valid documentary evidence of being Pakistani nationals. He said that foreigners had also returned 3,640 CNICs voluntarily.The minister said the issue of blocked CNICs should not be politicised, as it was an issue of Pakistani nationality. The process for CNIC verification was initiated to remove anomalies in the system, as Pakistan was waging a war against terror, he said. He urged the politicians to unite people on national issues like that of CNIC verification. An across-the-board scrutiny of CNICs was underway, as evident from the fact that CNICs of some 125,000 non-Pashtun persons had also been blocked so far, he added. Regarding passports, the minister said so far 33,025 passports, including around 32,000 issued to Afghan nationals, had been cancelled.Nisar said the government had decided to re-launch the Pakistan Origin Card with a new name: “Temporary Residence Card”.He said that a yearlong visa would be issued to any foreigner woman married to a Pakistani national, which would be extended to another five years, subject to security clearness.He said that international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) would be allowed to continue their work after registration and fulfilling codal formalities of the Interior Ministry. He said that the ministry will receive the inquiry report about the Dawn leaks within a few days. He said that DrAsim, Ayyan Ali and Pervez Musharraf were allowed to go abroad by courts, and that it was unfortunate to term the same political deals. To a query about the Indian spy KulbhushanJadhav, he said the Indian High Commission’s request to have access to the spy was disallowed because he was not an ordinary Indian citizen who was arrested red-handed.
There is no doubt that in the past with the connivance of black sheep in NADRA, many aliens managed to get the CNICs. Being a serious matter, the parties should avoid doing politics on it rather support the authorities concerned in completing the task in an effective manner. We hope that the NADRA will ensure transparency in whole processand will not compromise on fake the CNICs.
