KARACHI:
After the khateeb of Sultan Masjid delivered a sermon on objections to the blasphemy law, complaints were filed against him, alleging that his remarks could incite violence against MNA Sherry Rehman. The khateeb's computerised national identity card (CNIC) was subsequently blocked by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). On Thursday, he went to court to have it unblocked so he could get his passport renewed and travel for Umrah.
The cleric, Munir Ahmed, is the imam or prayer leader and khateeb of Karachi's Sultan Mosque off Khayaban-e-Hafiz in DHA Phase V. His lawyer, Advocate Kamran Mirza, submitted in a petition that was heard on Thursday, that Ahmed had been at the post for over 26 years.
Recently, he applied to renew his passport which had expired on July 24, 2010. But the Passport Office informed him that NADRA had blocked his card.
The counsel submitted that Ahmed came to know that some influential people in the government had his CNIC blocked to harass him over a sermon he delivered on Namoos-e-Risalat and objections to this law. MNA Sherry Rehman had filed a complaint against the petitioner, over threats to her life, while another complaint was filed on behalf of Shaan Taseer, son of slain Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, at Darakhshan police station.
The petitioner's lawyer contended that this act was discriminatory and violated his legal and constitutional rights. He prayed the court to order NADRA to unblock the card without any delay and order action against officials responsible for it.
On Thursday, NADRA Assistant Manager (Legal) Abdus Samad Khan filed a statement by NADRA's director-general (dated April 21, 2011), stating that the petitioner had not approached NADRA's verification and revocation board before.
The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, issued an order that said: "Let [the] petitioner approach [the] verification and revocation board to examine his credentials along with [the] original documents to satisfy the authority to his nationality within ten days from today during office hours." Adjourning the hearing to a date to be fixed by the office of the court, it also took on record the statement filed by the NADRA DG.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2011.
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