ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Affairs Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that those who were involved in the making of forged identity (ID) cards will be sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and the abettors will be sentenced to fourteen years’ imprisonment.
Addressing a press conference he said, “The issue is not of forged documents, the issue is of Pakistan’s stability and solidarity”. He added that it is of crucial importance that identity cards are verified and proven authentic by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). He also said that those who have been directly or indirectly involved in the forging national ID cards will be severely punished. He said that those who have forged ID cards have two months to come forward and confess if they want to escape the strict punishments. He also announced that if anyone informs the NADRA authority of the existence of some forged documents then he will be rewarded by the government.
Nisar said that in the past three years of the present government, 29,000 passports had been blacklisted. He said that more than 112,000 ID cards have been cancelled or listed for verification. He also said that the ID card of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour had been cancelled and if he had gone for verification then he would have certainly been caught.
The minister said that he wants a parliamentary committee made after consultations with intelligence agencies to probe the issue. He said that a helpline will also be made to ensure that citizens are protected from threats of fake documents and also an easy way for the rightful Pakistanis to report forging crimes. He said, “I have been very pro-active in this case for the past four days and some shocking revelations have been found. Wali Muhammad is not the only case, in fact if I tell you some of the names that came up, it will leave you dumbfounded”. He added that forging documents have become a routine for the past 10-12 years and it is imperative now to root out this problem.
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