Sanctity of nationality

Pakistan today faces terrorism of worst kind, because of our failures and greed dominated corruption, which has made acquisition of vital documents such as passport, NIC etc a purchasable commodity, while anybody willing to pay, can sneak into this country without documentation, commit crimes and then walk out greasing palms of those whose job it is to stop such unauthorised entries. The target killings in Karachi have been linked to mercenaries living in South Africa, or former Eastern Europe. Spread of illegal prohibited lethal weapons inside Pakistan is also linked to organised smuggling with connivance of customs, designated port and border intelligence agencies etc, which facilitated thousands of containers going missing after leaving our port. We live in a country where for over two years, chartered aircraft involved in non-scheduled cargo operation were allowed to land at Karachi International Airport by corrupt CAA officials, remain parked for days, with no record, while cash money paid was pocketed by powerful members of this mafia.

There should be some mandatory criterion for former Pakistani passport holders, who for more than twenty years have taken foreign nationality, while choosing in this interim period not to keep either their Pakistani passports or NICs updated. Dual nationals are those who retain their Pakistan origin status, while adopting foreign nationality. However it must be understood that those who have pledged an oath of loyalty to another country and its sovereign, cannot be given a right to hold any public office (paid or elected), head a political party, indulge in active politics or hold any diplomatic assignment except of an honorary status. It is time that our security agencies scan all such individuals to ascertain why they decided not to renew their Pakistani passport, or obtain NIC or NICOP for more than a decade. If there are genuine second thoughts and somebody’s conscience has woken up from slumber, it would perhaps be vital that a fresh oath of allegiance be taken before a passport is issued, making it mandatory to swear undivided loyalty to Pakistan, its constitution and laws.

ALI MALIK

Lahore