Several top ranking officers of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) have helped terrorists and other miscreants obtain fake national identity cards of Pakistan, reveals a report shared by the country’s premier intelligence agency with the NADRA chairman. In the report, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) listed 40 officials who have been involved in issuance of fake national identity cards. Some retired army officers, who currently hold top positions in NADRA’s Karachi office, are also on the list. They include General Manager (Projects) Brig (retd) Ehsanul Haq, Deputy GM (Operations) Lt-Col (retd) Aqeel Ahmed and Deputy GM (Operations) Maj (retd) Nihal. The scrutiny was carried out after the law enforcement agencies recovered Pakistani passports and computerised national identity cards (CNICs) in possession of a number of local and foreign terrorists they killed or apprehended as part of the ongoing terror purge. This places the country in peril, with non-Pakistanis holding Pakistani CNICs and even passports being arrested in other countries in criminal or terrorist cases. A senior Al-Qaeda leader as well as top Afghan Taliban leaders were found in possession of Nicop cards or CNICs, giving them a Pakistani identity and undoubtedly aiding their stay in the country. The precise number of fake CNICs granted is unknown. Nadra told the Senate a few weeks ago that nearly 5,000 such cards have been cancelled. The practice of issuing falsified CNICs seems to have been common since 2010 with cards sold to Afghan nationals or others from Nadra offices in Karachi for Rs10,000 to Rs20,000. Around 599 persons were also able to obtain Pakistani passports, even though they were aliens. The FIA is reported to have found 5,602 cases of fake CNICs issued to non-Pakistanis in the name of Pakistani nationals. It is thought the practice is not limited to Karachi but is in all likelihood continuing in other cities across the country. Further investigation is needed. It is also true that the disorganisation in the running of Nadra offices and the fact that its officials can apparently be quite easily bribed presents its own range of problems. Pakistanis approaching the authority have discovered the names of persons completely unrelated to them on their family list. It is unknown if wanted terrorists who were found in possession of Pakistani CNICs paid large amounts for them. But certainly these cards appear to be inexcusably easy to get hold of. Pakistanis have also discovered others holding duplicate cards in their names. In some cases, such cards are held by Afghans, Bangladeshis, Burmese, Uzbeks or Indians. The situation is far from reassuring. Many errors have also been uncovered in the Nadra record with incorrect names entered in some places and on some documents. All this makes falsification, or the sale of identity, even easier and leaves us with the frightening situation which the top agencies in the country are now apparently attempting to resolve.
pk.shafaqna.com
