ISLAMABAD –
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Tuesday staged a walk-out from the National Assembly session in protest of non-issuance of new Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) to MQM Chief Altaf Hussain.
“Authorities are biased towards our party leader.” MNA Rashid Godil said while talking to journalists outside the Parliament House.
He added that Hussain has fulfilled all the requirements regarding his application for a Pakistani identity card and passport.
He said his party staged walkout in the house and would hold sit-in outside the Parliament House.
The MNA also warned of a legal action if the party chief is not issued a passport.
He blamed Ministry of Interior Affairs for its ‘stubbornness’ in the matter. The issue regarding the CNIC and passport of the London-based MQM chief has been compounded after the ministry suspended the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) manager stationed in London.
The ministry said the NADRA manager took finger prints machine to the MQM Secretariat in London.
Pakistani High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hassan said that the facility can be availed by the ailing and the elderly people.
He also confessed to sending the NADRA crew to take Altaf Hussain’s finger prints.
Reacting to the incident, the government decided to suspend the NADRA manager and recalled him to Pakistan.
MQM leader Mustafa Azizabadi said so many hurdles were being poked in the process of issuing passport and CNIC to Altaf Hussain who could not get the documents even after five weeks of filing an application.