ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Thursday launched a new passport renewal service providing an opportunity to the overseas Pakistanis to apply for passport online.
Speaking at a news conference at NADRA Headquarters, the minister said in the first phase, the online passport service would be for Overseas Pakistanis and after six months it would also be available inside Pakistan. He said in a year or two the service would be expanded across Pakistan.
He praised the work done by Passport Office and NADRA for introducing the online service and taking other measures like complaint resolution service, mega centres, SMS service and home delivery to facilitate citizens applying for passport and identity cards. He said he continued to receive complaints of extortion and rush at NADRA offices and further steps would be taken to provide more facilities to people.
Nisar said he talked to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and got his approval for finances for start of e-passport project.
In the initial phase which would start from June 2017 with a cost of Rs 600 to 700 million, e-passports would be issued to officials and diplomats.
Then within two years, the e-passports would be issued across Pakistan. He said he wanted that passports should be issued for a period of 10 years to reduce burden on Passport Office and public.
This step would minimise misuse of Pakistani passport, which would get more recognition in the world.
He said the government set up 72 more passport offices, adding that the government planned to establish passport office in every district. The minister said services at NADRA offices would be improved so that people could easily get identity cards.
To a question about the news published by Dawn journalist Cyril Almeida, he said he would meet representatives of All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) and Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) on Friday (today) to discuss the issue. He said after the news came, the matter should have ended, however, and then Cyril Almeida tweeted: “I stand by every word written.”
He said Cyril himself said that when he checked with sources they denied the story but the news was still published by Dawn.
He said inquiry into the story would be completed in four to five days. “At present Cyril is a free man and there will be no pressure on him.”
However, during the inquiry the journalist would be asked about the evidence available to the government about the story.
He said the narrative given in the story was of the enemies as one can see from the coverage of Indian electronic media and others like Hindustan Times, The Times of India and The Hindu. “The national security was compromised because of the story.”
He said Cyril Almeida was put on the Exit Control List (ECL) as he was booked to catch a flight for abroad, without taking part in the inquiry.
If Cyril had gone abroad then the government would have been blamed that it let him go, he added.
Nisar said two or three people who were part of the matter would also be not allowed to go abroad for the purpose of inquiry.
If Cyril had not booked a flight for abroad, his name would not have been put on the ECL. The minister said the courts in the US had ruled that if a national security matter was involved, then media had to reveal the source.
However, he said media considered that its sources should be protected, but at least the government could verify facts of a news story.
He said he respected freedom of the media and he would be the last person to undermine it.
The minister said that Dawn newspaper repeatedly plainly refused to publish a clarification issued by the government.
He said the issue of Dawn story was discussed in a high level security meeting, and its proceedings were recorded in writing.
When asked about an unidentified military source who said the army did not have anything to do with putting Cyril’s name on ECL, he said that source should come forward, then he will respond on the issue.
To another question, he said Pakistan and Britain had extensive relations which should not reach a dead end because of a single issue.
He said the Pakistanis were closely looking at the situation regarding the cases against Altaf Hussain and how the British law acted. He said Altaf was facing cases of murder, money laundering and incitement to violence.
Nisar said the police and intelligence agencies were probing the matter of seizure of weapons from a house in Karachi.
He said the list of weapons was also found in the documents seized from Altaf’s house in London. This list had some connection with the weapons found in Karachi, he added.
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