Over 22,000 officials are dual national

Lawmakers demand ban on dual citizenship for bureaucrats, judges and MPs

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ISLAMABAD:

In a startling revelation, a National Assembly panel was informed on Monday that over 22,000 bureaucrats in Pakistan held dual nationality, raising alarms about national security.

As the NA's standing committee on Interior met here with Raja Khurram Nawaz in the chair, members sounded alarm over the practice and called for stringent measures to restrict the practice, especially for bureaucrats, judges and members of the parliamentarians.

The meeting was deliberating on the proposed legislation that would grant Pakistani passports to citizens of countries with which Pakistan has dual nationality agreements.

PPP's Agha Rafiullah demanded detailed statistics on Pakistani citizens holding dual nationality, including how many have renounced their foreign citizenship and whether NADRA possessed data on which countries these individuals were affiliated with.

The committee member also raised concerns about the relaxation of dual nationality rules, citing the example of the chairman of NAB, whose degree verification involved the confirmation of 45,000 student records from a university.

He questioned how the rules were relaxed for one individual to be granted dual nationality, especially when a senior position was involved. He further sought clarification on Pakistan's nationality agreements with other countries.

Meanwhile, Nabil Gabol opposed the legislation that would allow those who have renounced Pakistani nationality to receive a passport. The PPP lawmaker argued that such legislation should not be designed to benefit a specific individual or political party.

He also strongly opposed the idea of granting citizenship or a passport to anyone merely to give them a position and proposed inviting officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the next meeting to discuss the matter in greater detail.

He said that surrendering Pakistani nationality abroad was an insult to the country.

On the other hand, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry supported the bill, arguing that surrendering nationality abroad should not be viewed as an insult to Pakistan. He pointed out that those who engage in slandering Pakistan abroad should have their passports revoked.

During the meeting, it was also revealed that 22,000 bureaucrats hold dual citizenship.

Committee member Abdul Qadir Patel expressed surprise that while members of the National Assembly and judges were prohibited from holding dual citizenship, bureaucrats were not. He proposed that the bill should include a provision to ensure that individuals with dual nationality should not be appointed as bureaucrats.

Patel also challenged the argument that politicians are not given dual citizenship due to the need to safeguard state secrets.