Pass the passport
DERA GHAZI KHAN:
A woman misplaced her CNIC and passport, which was later issued from Bannu under a different name.
According to Faridabad Colony resident, Nafisa Begum she lost her CNIC lost in June 2009 and a report was registered with the Civil Lines police station about the incident. Nafisa said that she was issued a new CNIC on July 13, 2009. “I now needed to get my passport reissued so I went to the passport office on June 4,” she said. Nafisa was told by the passport office that she had been already been re-issued a passport from the Bannu office on July 18, last year. She said that the officials who had issued the passport on her previous CNIC number, which had been reported to be stolen, needed to be brought to task and that her passport should be cancelled.
“I reported both my documents missing in the local press and therefore the passport office should not have reissued the passport to someone else. The act was illegal,” she said.
Officials confirmed that the recipient of the stolen passport was an Afghan woman, named Bisnam. Dera Ghazi Khan passport office officials said that Bisnam must have been issued a token from Bannu.
“This is why she was later able to take on Nafisa’s identity,” they said. “Now that we have examined the documents, it is obvious that the Bannu office was involved. Passport procedure is strictly monitored and computerised any kind of fraud needs to be facilitated by someone on the inside,” Shahnawaz Dogar, a passport official said.
Bisnam also received a token from the Bannu office staff on the Dera Ghazi Khan CNIC in spite of a clear difference between her and Nafisa’s passport photographs. Under the law only government officials are issued passports outside of their home districts. On the other hand, assistant director passport DG Khan Rao Muhammad Islam said the Dera passport office had no role in this regard. The application of Nafisa Begum could only be processed when the issued passport was cancelled. He told reporters Nafisa could cancel her passport by writing an application to the assistant director at the Islamabad headquarters.
Nafisa has expressed fear that her stolen passport could be used to facilitate terrorist activities. Three years ago several passports were stolen in an attack on the Dera Ghazi Khan passport office. The accused belonged to Banu and had attacked a police assistant sub inspector Muhammad Ashiq, who was killed in the crossfire. “Hundreds of illegal passports were issued after that incident from Banu and given the increasing incidents of terrorism being reported from Banu, this should be a cause of concern for security officials,” Nafisa said.
A report regarding the stolen passport has been filed with local police as well as the Islamabad headquarters, assistant ficial director.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 12th, 2010.
A woman misplaced her CNIC and passport, which was later issued from Bannu under a different name.
According to Faridabad Colony resident, Nafisa Begum she lost her CNIC lost in June 2009 and a report was registered with the Civil Lines police station about the incident. Nafisa said that she was issued a new CNIC on July 13, 2009. “I now needed to get my passport reissued so I went to the passport office on June 4,” she said. Nafisa was told by the passport office that she had been already been re-issued a passport from the Bannu office on July 18, last year. She said that the officials who had issued the passport on her previous CNIC number, which had been reported to be stolen, needed to be brought to task and that her passport should be cancelled.
“I reported both my documents missing in the local press and therefore the passport office should not have reissued the passport to someone else. The act was illegal,” she said.
Officials confirmed that the recipient of the stolen passport was an Afghan woman, named Bisnam. Dera Ghazi Khan passport office officials said that Bisnam must have been issued a token from Bannu.
“This is why she was later able to take on Nafisa’s identity,” they said. “Now that we have examined the documents, it is obvious that the Bannu office was involved. Passport procedure is strictly monitored and computerised any kind of fraud needs to be facilitated by someone on the inside,” Shahnawaz Dogar, a passport official said.
Bisnam also received a token from the Bannu office staff on the Dera Ghazi Khan CNIC in spite of a clear difference between her and Nafisa’s passport photographs. Under the law only government officials are issued passports outside of their home districts. On the other hand, assistant director passport DG Khan Rao Muhammad Islam said the Dera passport office had no role in this regard. The application of Nafisa Begum could only be processed when the issued passport was cancelled. He told reporters Nafisa could cancel her passport by writing an application to the assistant director at the Islamabad headquarters.
Nafisa has expressed fear that her stolen passport could be used to facilitate terrorist activities. Three years ago several passports were stolen in an attack on the Dera Ghazi Khan passport office. The accused belonged to Banu and had attacked a police assistant sub inspector Muhammad Ashiq, who was killed in the crossfire. “Hundreds of illegal passports were issued after that incident from Banu and given the increasing incidents of terrorism being reported from Banu, this should be a cause of concern for security officials,” Nafisa said.
A report regarding the stolen passport has been filed with local police as well as the Islamabad headquarters, assistant ficial director.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 12th, 2010.