LHC hears petition calling for ban on dual national bureaucrats, army men

Petitioner argues bureaucrats, army men deal with sensitive state information and settle abroad after service ends.


Our Correspondent January 23, 2013
Petitioner says that after retirement, dual nationality holding bureaucrats, army men settle abroad. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday admitted for regular hearing a petition that calls for banning bureaucrats and army men who have dual nationalities.

Citizen Khalid Mahmood filed the petition and submitted that both bureaucrats and military men during their service tenures dealt with highly sensitive issues and possessed secret information.

He argued after their retirement the dual national service men settled abroad, therefore, they were in a position to disclose sensitive information of Pakistan to the other countries.

The petitioner sought a ban on bureaucrats and army men carrying dual nationality and prayed to stop such officers immediately from functioning.

The court will resume hearing on March 20.

COMMENTS (4)

Mohammad ali | 11 years ago | Reply

Now they are steping to make Pakistan safe and sound. well, its never too late for any good work... Worth it ..

Wondering | 11 years ago | Reply

There is an issue of "classification" of information versus "disclosure" of information.

I do believe this should be left up to the military. Military should make sure that any person with access to confidential information that would compromise national security should have the relevant and appropriate background clearance to afford such access. While "dual citizenship" could be one criterion of ineligibility, but it cannot be the only criterion. We have proven cases were native-born military officers have leaked highly classified and sensitive information to foreign enemies. So "citizenship" alone is no test of loyalty or prevention of disclosure. That is completely different issue.

While "dual citizenship" by virtue of the oath complicates the loyalty of a person, therefore reason enough to make someone ineligible for serving in the highly classified areas of the military, for example the intelligence or where they would have access to highly classified information.

However, if foreign-born children of Pakistani origin want to return and volunteer to serve in the military in the service of their nation, and for example, are willing to serve (and even die) in places like Siachen, FATA, etc., then who can question their loyalty and patriotism to the state and nation of Pakistan?

VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ