Daily Times

We are in government but we do not govern. This contradiction is the reason why governments fail to perform. Heads of government ministries, functions, divisions and institutions are responsible and answerable for their performance. Take this accountability away, the very notion of democracy fades into insignificance. The very notion of public service becomes a mockery. The very notion of doing what they are paid for becomes immaterial. And the very notion of governance becomes a distant dream, and that is what has happened to this country. Governance is an orphan that has failed to find foster parentage in politics. Institutional decay has assumed historical proportions. When the most important, sensitive data, warehouse in the country becomes a walk-in-and-walk-out ID centre for spies, terrorists, counterfeiters and bribers, it is time for not just ‘breaking news’ but to take urgent steps to prevent this open loot sale on the identity of our country.

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) was established with the vision to be a catalyst for change as a modern set-up that would provide base for the better governance of Pakistan and be a model organisation for the public sector of Pakistan in the year 2000. Within a decade it achieved its mission of becoming a role model of a self-sustaining organisation, whose operations gained worldwide fame for its cutting edge technology. It also started to export its consulting services to many countries, including Nigeria, Sudan and Sri Lanka to name a few, through its corporate arm, National Technology Limited. It was only the recent drone attack on Mullah Akhtar Mansour and the fake ID card discovery that has revealed how this institution has become a victim of politicisation. All of a sudden the minster of interior is holding press briefings and secretive in-house meetings to gauge the extent of decay and damage in NADRA. Quite openly, he has revealed the fact that fake ID cards have been issued to Afghan nationals who have been working for the Indian intelligence agencies. The admitted number of fake ID exceeds 250,000. If this is not the biggest security breach, then we need to know what is.

The response of the minister of interior is that in a press conference he admits that NADRA is full of corrupt people, and that government has started the cleansing process but it would take time. Meanwhile, he has ordered that all ID cards will be re-authenticated. These are all post-mortem steps, but nevertheless, the entire process would cost hugely in time and money, and that too without the assurance that the problem would be solved. Governance is not about being caught with an embarrassing scandal, and then blaming everybody and taking some headline-grabbing steps but not addressing the issue. The real issue is why has an institution that was renowned for its performance and its innovation became a centre for counterfeit ID cards. The answer is that the institution has become politicised to the core.

The current Mullah Mansoor incident was not a one-off incident as there had been reports earlier that terrorists and their abettors were facilitated by people at NADRA. In August 2015, a report by the ISI had named terrorists who had obtained fake ID cards, and also named people working in NADRA who were facilitating them. The reaction of the minister of interior was predictable. First deny, then admit, then remove a few unimportant people, and then blame some influential parties for making some people beyond accountability in some institutions. Answering questions in the National Assembly in November 2015 the minister said parliamentarians had helped appoint some foreigners in the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). But at the same time, he gave them benefit of the doubt, claiming they might have been unaware that those people were foreign nationals.

That is where the buck stops. When it comes to political appointees they are above the law, above investigation, above accountability. The entire system then becomes the ‘no-go’ area in institutions where ministers, National Accountability Bureau and Federal Investigation Agency cannot enter, thus enabling foreign hands to manipulate these loopholes to their advantage. If we look at the history of NADRA in the last few years and see it transforming from a role model to a corruption-ridden institution we can see how government interference has contributed to this mess. Tariq Malik was the previous head of NADRA; he was the one who had made NADRA self-sufficient by doing some innovative IT work that helped NADRA become an exporter of services. Malik was awarded the ID Outstanding Achievement Award in 2009 in Milan during the ID WORLD International Congress, the Global Summit on Automatic Identification. He was selected out of 250 people from 75 countries by international voting of an editorial board consisting of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.

The problem started when the NA-118 case of thumb-verification came to NADRA from the election tribunal; the reason being the losing candidate had alleged mass rigging. The evening before the thumb-verification was to take place Malik was sent a government notice of removal, which was delivered at 1:30am. This started a series of court cases where Malik was removed and restored by court. Finally, he resigned and left the country with open statements that since he was revealing electoral fraud government had threatened him and his family. And that he knew that if he did not accede to government demands his family safety would be jeopardised. With this history whoever occupies this position in NADRA is going to be a man who would not dare to challenge government high-ups.

The ministry of Interior’s open admission on the floor of the assembly that some parliamentarians have appointed foreigners in NADRA, but then quickly hiding it saying that they may not be aware of their linkages with terrorists itself tells the story. It is a confession of government interference; it is a confession of violation of rules of recruitment; it is a confession of misuse of public and government office; it is a confession of nepotism and cronyism; it is a confession of corruption; and it is confession of a huge breach of security.

After all these confessions what are the steps that are being taken? Re-verification of all ID cards in the country; shutting off of NTL, the main innovation centre; catching officers taking 20,000 rupees bribes; more meetings, and of course, more press conferences. But what about parliamentarians who made forced appointments in NADRA, and what about the head of NADRA who accepted these unjustified recruitments, and the fact that he could not detect 200 officers working under them who were busy in the ‘loot sale’ of fake IDs. Unless these people are brought under the net of investigation there may be a temporary seasonal slump in the fake ID business, but that will just be a lull before the storm of a boom in the high stakes bazaar for fake identities.

The writer is a columnist and analyst and can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com