Daily Times

Better late than never. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar has issued a directive for more than 25 million families to re-verify their CNICs in the wake of the killing of the Taliban leader, Mullah Akhter Mansour. Killed in a US drone strike, Mansour was found travelling with a Pakistani CNIC and passport. The interior minister believes that the country’s identity in the world is at stake, as the perception is that it is available for anyone who is willing to pay for it. Last year, a similar exercise was done related to re-verification of cellular mobile SIMs, in the wake of the Army Public School (APS) attacks. Approximately, 120 million mobile connections were verified through biometric procedure to curb the use of illegal SIM cards for illegal activities including terrorism. Millions of people flocked to re-verification points, and the process was completed with tiresome efforts spanning over months. A year has passed and the authorities have decided to put citizens through grind again, but this time through the NADRA offices, visit to which is tedious and time-consuming as it is because of the high number of people waiting for processes to be completed for their CNICs and other documents.

A few months ago, five NADRA officials were arrested for issuing fake CNICs to foreigners. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had started the crackdown following the APS attacks in Peshawar, which led to the arrests of NADRA as well as other officials working in government departments. Investigations into a few such scams revealed that some NADRA officials issued hundreds of thousands of CNICs to foreigners. Furthermore, following the crackdown, the authorities have blocked over 112,000 CNICs in just five months. This begs the question: why are millions of Pakistanis being forced to face the brunt of this tedious exercise when some government officials are involved in nefarious activities? Moreover, the concerned department has biometrically verified data of all issued CNICs, and illegal identity cards can be discarded through that data. Is this whole exercise being undertaken merely to show the world that procurement of Pakistani identity cards is impossible, and a person’s identity can not be fake? Both history and figures suggest otherwise.

The exercise could prove to be another eyewash for the public following the re-verification drill for illegal mobile connections last year. This is a failure on the part of authorities, as they should have come up with a comprehensive policy to crack down against illegal migrants into the country. At a point in time when the country faces continuous terrorist and other security threats, knee-jerk reactions are not apt response. A comprehensive strategy is required to curb the issuance of illegal CNICs and illegal cross-border travelling. The plan should also involve scrutiny of corrupt officials who are involved in this crime. Although the interior minister has announced a general amnesty for culprits involved in these activities if they come forward on their own, these criminals should not be allowed to get away so easily. Most of these NADRA officials have been working under the patronage of government officials. Now the interior ministry needs to devise a mechanism of foolproof verification of applications for CNICs and other identity documents. When a mass action is implemented in reaction to any untoward incident, there is always a chance of injustice being done, thus causing resentment in the vast majority of the people who have nothing to do with any illegal activity, blatantly or covertly. Reactive measures should be replaced by long-term sustainable policies, which are focused on betterment of people, giving them a sense of security, instead of making them wary of being ruled by a flaky government. *