Doubting loyalties of dual nationals

Our Constitution bars dual nationals from holding public offices, but it doesn't classify them as disloyal or traitor.

Strange are the ways of our society which has become deeply steeped in focusing on the negative side of what is otherwise a positive development. The Supreme Court’s decision on dual nationality-holders in the past, in which it had rightly barred dual nationals from holding public office, is a case in point. It was, no doubt, a correct decision by the SC and all parties, including the MQM, strictly adhered to it and acted upon it.

But nowadays, a strange debate is taking place in the national press where some individual politicians and anchorpersons are deliberately questioning the loyalties of the foreign-based Pakistanis, a majority of whom have dual nationality. Actually, what these individuals fail to understand is that they are on the wrong side of the debate. There is no denying that our Constitution bars dual nationals from holding public offices, but it does not classify them as disloyal or traitors.

Here, one may refer to the Pakistan Citizen Act, which very clearly and precisely allows Pakistani nationals to hold the nationality of as many as 16 countries, including the UK and Canada, for reasons laid out in the Constitution. It is also a fact that Pakistan receives remittances of up to around $14 billion annually from overseas Pakistanis, including dual nationals. That’s why it was trumpeted that they should have the right to vote. Taking the oath of citizenship of another country does not mean that a person has renounced loyalty to his country of birth.

It may also be recalled here that, in the past, we have had a prime minister (Shaukat Aziz) who was a dual nationality holder. Anyway, why the then Election Commission did not disqualify him, or others with dual nationality at the time, is another debate altogether. What is ironic is that while a few spokesmen of the PML-N are talking against dual nationality holders for fear of Dr Tahirul Qadri, they fail to grasp the behind-the-scenes agreement under which their leader Nawaz Sharif, went to Saudi Arabia and remained there for over a decade. One would also call the statements made, at the time, by Mr Nawaz Sharif, who was not only critical of the government, but also showed mistrust of the judiciary. Interestingly, Mr Nawaz Sharif is the only leader who has a lifetime facility to stay in a country which does not have the policy of offering a nationality or multiple visas.

Moreover, leaders are being misquoted to misguide the nation and malign leaders of international repute. For example, the other day, when quoting Quaid-e-Azam as a British national, MQM leader Altaf Hussain was just making a reference to stop those biased interpreters who are terming dual nationals as ‘unfaithful’. It was aimed at making them realise that the dual nationality holders are as honest as the Father of the Nation was. To say that Mr Altaf Hussain “maligned” the Quaid-e-Azam is a distortion of the statement. Every one of us knows that before 1947, united India was governed by Britain and the British government had the authority to issue a passport. So it was geographical facts and the then-existing political situation to which Mr Altaf Hussain had referred.

At the end, it is my humble request to the media to play their due role on these sensitive issues in a very responsible and sensible way. Generally speaking, it has become our psyche as a nation to focus on the negative side of things and our media needs to put aside all such feelings and focus on the ‘glass half full’ rather than the ‘glass half empty’.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2013.