Balochistan

Afghan president holds Pakistani identity card

Chagai district council lashes out at the level of corruption that plagues NADRA

Mohammad Zafar August 05, 2015

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. PHOTO: FILE

QUETTA: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani holds a Pakistani identity card, a local government official revealed on Tuesday.

District Council Chairman Malik Dilmurad Hasni stunned the entire house during a meeting of the local body in Chagai when he revealed that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani holds a Pakistani identity card.

Hasni also presented a copy of the identity document issued by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) during the meeting. He claimed that the legendary Afghan freedom fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud also possessed a Pakistani identity document.

Startled by the revelations, members of the district council lashed out at the level of corruption that has plagued NADRA, a federal agency tasked to manage the registration database of citizens in the country.

Members were also told that a number of Afghan nationals were elected as members during the local government polls in the province last year. They blamed local committee members for the irregularities during the electoral exercise.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2015.

COMMENTS (34)

Atomant | 8 years ago | Reply @pops: I think you will find that the majority of people on welfare are white and English. YouTube benefit Britain and be amazed! Ta ta now.

globalobserver | 8 years ago | Reply @Ayesha: "As far as Pakistan’s intention to covert it as a 5th province, you sound quite stupid, as we already have couple of provinces we can not manage." As for being stupid, you should blame Zia ul Haq and not me. He was the one who openly stated that Afghanistan will be made into the fifth province of Pakistan. Ever since, Pakistan has pursued this policy by interfering in Afghan affairs and propping up its puppet regimes their. The still current idea of strategic depth in Afghanistan is euphemism for conquering Afghanistan as Pakistan's fifth province.

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Jaspal Rana | 8 years ago | Reply Afghan President has a pakistani ID but Ajmal Kasab and now Usman Khan are not from pakistan. Wah re wah!!

ahmed vastani | 8 years ago | Reply there no difference between countries we are talking about, all 4 countries are governed by muslims only, what it makes any difference whether you are afghani, pakistani, Indian or Bangla. We are all basically muslims.

Ayesha | 8 years ago | Reply @globalobsever:Pakistan’s “help” to Afghans was not out of any noble intent. In the history of world politics, no country has ever hosted 10 million refugees from neigbor. As they say " not a single bullet was fired and Belin wall fell" but all the bullets were fired in Pakistan. We paid a very heavy price in return of "peanuts". As far as Pakistan's intention to covert it as a 5th province, you sound quite stupid, as we already have couple of provinces we can not manage.

Temur | 8 years ago | Reply Do Pakistani seriously think that living in foreign countries and acquiring their citizenship is only their prerogative?

Aschraful Makhlooq | 8 years ago | Reply Where corruption is the backbone of every department and every department runs on corruption there this is never new and by money any one can get Pakistani ID easily......

Sultan Hussain | 8 years ago | Reply The story may have a grain of truth for the reason that most of the prominent Afghanis lived in Pakistan after post Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Most of their current and past leadership had sanctuary here.so no surprise if president Ghani got pak iD card.

Pakistani | 8 years ago | Reply @Pops: Not true at all. I am a UK national and lived there for most of my life. GB is a great country with great people, Very liberal, generally very fair, open society. There may be a small minority who do not like britain but I would say most Pakistanis love UK and are grateful for the opportunities it has provided them.

globalobserver | 8 years ago | Reply @Ayesha: " For Pakistan its a lesson. Do not ever, go beyond a limit to help neighbors otherwise they will turn against you. " Pakistan's "help" to Afghans was not out of any noble intent. Pakistan wanted to convert Afghanistan as its subservient fifth province. That is not a secret.

Aam Admi Bechara | 8 years ago | Reply @Pakistani Sindhi: Sindh has suffered most from the massive relentless cruel loot of sindhi waderas. Out of 3000 billion rupees allocated during last seven years of wadera corruption party government in sindh not only a few billions were actually spent on interior sindh what to talk about wadera occupied Karachi where they have stolen from water to graveyards

Ayesha | 8 years ago | Reply Having enjoyed all the benefits from Pakistan; why do the Afghans inculding their present and former Presidents hate us? This shows their character and/or level of trust worthiness! In Urdu we call "Totta Chasm"! For Pakistan its a lesson. Do not ever, go beyond a limit to help neighbors otherwise they will turn against you.

Tony Singh | 8 years ago | Reply @Muhammad: Judging by your comment, I am now sure I have stated the truth..

Saqib Surani | 8 years ago | Reply It's a planned propaganda against him, President Dr Ashraf Ghani never been to Pakistan, Before the sour revolution he left for United States and been there till 2001.

FRDOUSI | 8 years ago | Reply Its no doubt

Indialover | 8 years ago | Reply Only Ghani ? Not Obama,Modi,Netanyahu,Xi ? I am sure they are missing something by not holding the VALUED PAKISTANI ID Card

Noor Badshah | 8 years ago | Reply NADRA may be purged of black sheep and all CNICs issued to Afghan Refugees may be cancelled at the earliest as they are maligning Pakistan abroad due to their heinous activities.

Azeez | 8 years ago | Reply @Bewildered: are you happy now.....LOL

Bewildered | 8 years ago | Reply @mahakaalchakra: "Now we know why he succumbs to the pressure from his handlers from the deep state." FYI, Karzai and his whole family enjoyed the hospitality of Pakistan for decades (many of his family members still live in Pakistan and probably have Pakistani IDs as well, don't know about Karzai himself) and Pakistan played a major role in making him the President by lobbying for him with the US as he was nobody himself at that time, but later India bought himself of. See, the problem with buying someone's loyalties is that there is always someone who can pay more. Pakistanis thought that since they have helped Karzai immensely, he would never align with their enemies, but that proved to be wrong. Now, the President Ashraf is a totally different story. He is an highly educated and well known personality himself with some integrity as well. Pakistan or India can't possibly buy or control him. He would most likely do what is in the best interest of his country. Any sane person would know where the long term geopolitical and economic interests of Afghanistan lie and that is Pakistan, not India.

Pops | 8 years ago | Reply @Pakistani: Same can be said about most Pakistanis living in Britain. They want the state benefits, but hate the Brits.

Someone | 8 years ago | Reply @Afghanistan: He spent some time in Pakistan while doing his thesis, and probably other time too. It would be logical to assume that he would have migrated to the US on a Pakistani passport

Hadi | 8 years ago | Reply Ashraf Ghani Accepted in his speach during election compaign that he has been as Islamic school student in Karachi during start of Soviet war in Afghanistan.@Afghanistan:

Pakistani Sindhi | 8 years ago | Reply We must arrange for their repatriation from Pakistan (especially from the Sindh province; which has suffered more because of not only the Afghan refugees flocking to our province but also the internally-displaced-people from KPK and nearby). Afghanistan has now more opportunities than Pakistan for these Afghan refugees; especially as the country is emerging under the full economical support of the foreign countries (including India).

Afghan Maihan | 8 years ago | Reply I doubt the veracity of this statement. Ashraf Ghani left Afghanistan in the early 70s to pursue higher education in Lebanon and subsequently migrated to USA where he pursued his doctoral degree at Columbia and lived and worked there until 2001. He moved back to Afghanistan after the Bonn Agreement and has lived there since that time.

Bobb Mack | 8 years ago | Reply @Anon: Banging and hurting your head will do no good to you other than damaging your brain cells which could then dilute your IQ further. This news should not cause any sensation given that a large number of afghan leaders have spent a considerable period of their life in Pakistan. Many developed countries of the world would give you a passport after spending just five years or so....you can be a duel national in this globalised world. Think before you bang!

Muhammad | 8 years ago | Reply @Tony Singh: This page is good in the sense that it provides opportunity for some useless and ridiculous comments to appear on it....like that of yours. Your rant about Pakistani's typical mindset of grabbing land reflects your shallow view of things. You deserve a kick from here!

Afghanistan | 8 years ago | Reply If this was written about mula omar, hekmatyar or haqanis, I would accept. However, ashraf ghani had left Afghanistan to USA long before Russian invasion and he didn't have to have pakistani ID.

Pakistani | 8 years ago | Reply It is very disturbing to see afghans take benefits from pakistan, and then abuse the country which has provided shelter and economic opportunity to millions if them

PostMan | 8 years ago | Reply Well he should not worry now coming to Pakistan for ID card related matters. NADRA has launched online renewals so he can renew his ID card from Kabul.

bash gul | 8 years ago | Reply A former nazim of UC 4 SITE town is also an Afghani, his election to be a nazim was challenged, but since he had joined an Islamic party, he survived. So many Afghans have joined political parties and are indulged in corruption. Just check with NADRA how many new CNIC were issued in the last five years, and you will notice that they were mostly Afghanis. They is a proverb in Pushto that says THAT MONEY CAN MAKE WAY EVEN IN A HARD ROCK.

Salman - SK | 8 years ago | Reply This news report amazes me. I am amazed by the dumbfounded-ness of the people at this news. What is so difficult to understand? Most of the Afghan leadership lived in Pakistan when Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan. That includes Karzai and his family too. Most of them carried Pakistani ID cards and even the Pakistani passports. And, what does this has to do with Nadra's corruption? All this happened with the blessings and patronage of the Pakistani Government and Establishment. It was part of our policy. Pakistanis need to study its' history, with particularly emphasis on what exactly happened from 1979 to 1999. It has deep implications on where we are today and where we are going. A nation that does not know where it has come from would hardly be able to know where it is going.

mahakaalchakra | 8 years ago | Reply Now we know why he succumbs to the pressure from his handlers from the deep state.

Bewildered | 8 years ago | Reply So, Pakistani nationality is something valuable. Lets see what Indians say now.

Anon | 8 years ago | Reply Quick, i need something to bang my head on!!

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