K-P Assembly: Centre urged to solve blocked CNICs issue

MPAs threaten to stage protest outside Parliament

PESHAWAR: The provincial government and opposition in the Khyber-Pakhtunkwa Assembly seemed to be on the same page on Monday as the issue of blocked Computerised National Identity Cards was taken up by the house.

Members of the provincial assembly warned of holding demonstrations outside Parliament if the federal government failed to take immediate action and resolve the issue of the blocked CNICs.

Jamat-e-Islami MPA and senior minister Inayatullah Khan said the blockade of CNICs was a serious issue as it was mandatory to carry IDs in parts of K-P and a few tribal areas. This, he added, caused a lot of trouble for the locals.

He urged the federal interior ministry to review its policy pertaining to the blocked CNICs, saying ‘Pashtoons were being discriminated at all levels’.

He urged NADRA to immediately unblock CNICs so that people could move freely.

Expressing similar views, Sardar Hussain Babak of the Awami National Party said the federal government discriminated against Pashtoons, whether they were from K-P, Fata or Balochistan.

While the provincial government and opposition parties bashed the federal government for its ‘injustice against Pashtoons’, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Sardar Aurangzeb Nalota termed blocking of the CNICs ‘a successful step by the government to curb militancy’ in the region.

He stated that the country was engulfed by terrorism but the federal government’s decision to block CNICs helped identify militants.

The issue of lack of burn centres and shortage of beds in the existing burn centres in the province was also brought under discussion by the opposition.

In response, Provincial Health Minister Shaukat Ali Yousafzai snapped back, saying that it was the responsibility of the federal government to construct as well as provide equipment to the burn centres which it has not despite many reminders.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Sardar Hussain demanded that the provincial assembly speaker stop perks and privileges of members who do not attend the assembly sessions regularly.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2016.