Senate panel : Sleuths’ role sought to trace illegal CNIC holders

Body dissatisfied over issuing CNICs to non-Pakistanis

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat Wednesday expressed deep dissatisfaction over loopholes in the registration of identification cards of non-Pakistanis in the country. They dubbed this a serious problem, differentiating it from other threats to the country.

The meeting was attended by Intelligence Bureau (IB) director general, joint director general and National Database Regulatory Authority (Nadra)’s director general (operations).

Senator Talha Mehmood, who chairs the committee, recommended the IB liaise with Nadra for scrutiny of illegal ID cards holders in the country. Linking the issue to the matter of national security, he asked for a comprehensive report on gaps in the process to be presented in the committee in a week’s time. IB Deputy DG Javaid Rafique gave a detailed presentation on the role of IB regarding verification of Nadra cards being issued to aliens.



Rafique referred to a joint verification committee (JVC) constituted on the recommendations of the Senate two years ago.  In the present scenario, the JVC operates in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Punjab, looking for suspected cases of alien registration. In Balochistan, FATA and K-P, regular meetings are held at provincial and district levels every day.

Nadra DG (Operations) Muzzafar Ali said that from 2,008 cases, the CNICs of 17,481 confirmed aliens had been blocked on grounds of being suspicious following reports of relevant committees.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2015.