DESIGN: SUNARA NIZAMI

LAHORE: NADRA Chairman Usman Yousaf Mobin has said that some Afghan nationals obtained CNICs by pretending to be brothers and sisters of Pakistani nationals.



“Such Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) have been blocked after receiving information from reliable sources,” said the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) chairman while addressing the media during his visit to the head office on Sunday.



The chairman said, “NADRA has developed and provided the voting system for overseas Pakistanis.”



He said that he was not aware whether the Results Transmission System (RTS) would be used in the supplementary polls, but “there is an issue of about 150,000 CNICs in the country”. He said the RTS system did not crash during the general elections.



He said, “Four special counters will be established to resolve the issues of Pashtuns’ CNICs, and they will work 24/7. Priority will be given to resolve the CNIC problems of Pashtuns and to provide B-Forms [child registration certificate] to the Pashtun children on these counters.”



He said he had told Pashtuns that they were facing problems for three reasons. First one, he said, was that some Pashtuns pretended to be Afghan refugees and received relief funds, but then returned to Pakistan.



The second one was that complaints against many Afghan citizens were registered by their so-called local relatives.



And the third one, he said was that local Pashtuns showed Afghan citizens as their brothers to help them become a Pakistani citizen.



Earlier, Pashtuns staged a protest demonstration in front of Zaman Park, residence of Prime Minister Imran Khan, and demanded that their problems regarding blocked CNICs be resolved.



In order to disperse the protesters, the NADRA chairman held a meeting with the Pashtuns at the NADRA office where he listened to their problems.



During the meeting, Pahstuns unveiled a long list of complaints. They said that they had to face unnecessary problems at the NADRA office as they were looked down upon. They also said they were equal Pakistani citizens as their ancestors were born in Pakistan.



“The NADRA staff does not pay any heed to our problems and many a time we have been pushed out of the office,” they complained.