Issue of Pashtuns' racial profiling echoes in Senate

The issue of racial profiling of Pashtuns in parts of Punjab province in wake of operation Raad ul Fassad echoed in Upper House of the Parliament, prompting the chairman Senate to issue a ruling to Nadra and intelligence agencies to dispose of the verification on priority basis.
The issue was raised through a calling attention notice by Senators Saleem Mandviwalla, Shahi Syed and others who said that under the pretext of operation against militants, Pashtuns doing businesses in Punjab are being harassed which may weaken the federation.
Denying any crackdown on Pashtuns, State Minister for Interior Baleegur Rehman informed the Senate that no such profiling is taking place at all. "Such a crackdown against a particular community will be tantamount to national solidarity," he added.
He said that 345,510 national identity cards have so far been blocked by National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), of which 117,459 are confirmed aliens, adding 52,000 cases are being investigated by Nadra, while some 175,000 case have been sent to security agencies for verification.
He said that doubtful ID cards have been blocked until clearance by the Nadra and security agencies. He said that joint verification committees (JVCs) that consisted of representatives of Intelligence Bureau (IB), Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Special Branch of police, have been abolished through which suspected cases were being sent to concerned agencies for verification.
"We wrapped up the JVCs as it was time consuming and now Nadra officials probe the doubtful cards and, if needed, refer the matter to agencies otherwise they dispose of the case," he added.
He said that a parliamentary committee has also been formed to look into the matter. Besides, a delegation of Pashtuns living in Punjab led by Adviser to the PM Amir Muqam also recently met Punjab chief minister, who assured them of prompt action in case of any discrimination with Pashtuns.
He also declared the pamphlets in social media warning Pashtuns to leave Punjab as fake, saying the Punjab government probed the matter and no such circulars were issued by any government official including police and deputy commissioners.
Senator Baleegur Rehman that no discriminatory profiling is being done on the basis of gender, religion and ethnicity. He said that advanced technology is used for identification of people, through which doubtful cases are automatically detected.
He said that the people whose ID cared have been blocked are not Pashtuns, as they included Sindhis, Baloch, and Punjabis as well.
Senators Usman Khan Kakar and Sardar Azam Khan Musakhel, however, expressed dissatisfaction over the briefing given by the minister, saying they have proof that the minister is concealing the facts. The police are exploiting the innocent Pashtun labourers in Punjab and they are being rounded up and then released after greasing the palms of police, they alleged.
The chairman Senate asked them to present the proof in his chamber and if the statement by the minister is proved wrong, he will be confronted in light of the evidence given by the Pashtun lawmakers.
In an obvious reference to official overseas office of Taliban in Qatar, Opposition Leader in Senate Aitzaz Ahsan said that ruling PML-N has also offices in Qatar, from where letters are being written to the Supreme Court in Panama Leaks case.
"The senators talked at length about militant hideouts and offices in Lahore and Multan, but one thing we all know that the PML-N has also got offices in Qatar, from where letters are written. How can we forget when these people [PML-N] openly appealed to Taliban not to target them because they share same ideology (of the Taliban)...the mindset needs to be changed," he added.
EXPORT DECLINE
Commerce Minister Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan informed the Senate that Torkham and Chaman borders that were shut in wake of recent terrorists attacks in the country, will be opened as soon as possible.
"We are holding meetings on the issue on daily basis, as the borders have been closed due to security issue, and as soon as the issue is resolved, we will open the border," he said while speaking on a motion by Senator Kalsum Perveen on decline of Pakistan's export.
The lawmakers said that trade volume between Pakistan and Afghanistan is about $2 billion while the unofficial trade volume is about $5 billion, thus making Afghanistan the second largest importer of Pakistani goods after United States.
They said that the closure of borders with the neighbouring country will badly affect the country's exports, as it is already facing troubles in exporting its goods to international market, and the closure of trade with Afghanistan will further deteriorate the situation.
Senator Shibli Faraz of PTI said that strategic trade policy of the government for 2013 to 2015 badly failed, and the existing trade policy will also meet the same fate as it has no vision. "Sixty-four per cent of exports are textile related, but it is going from bad to worse as we could not introduce new technology to further enhance the industry," he said.
The lawmakers said that Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has become redundant as it has nothing to do except holding elections of chambers and enjoying foreign trips.
Kalsum Perveen said that in most embassies of Pakistan and that too in important countries, there are no trade officers, while those working overseas are political appointees, which is the reason TDAP has lost its credibility.
However, the trade minister rejected the claim saying 41 trade officers who were sent abroad during last years were selected purely on merit, and trained on the special orders of the prime minister.
Khurram said that an increase of 37 per cent was witnessed in EU trade since 2014 that it became possible due to GSP-Plus status as Pakistan enjoys duty free and quota free trade facility with 28 EU countries.
The minister said Iran has opened its market for Pakistani Kinnow, while banking relations between the two countries will start functioning soon. He said the UAE has also opened poultry import from Pakistan after eight years ban.
"There has been a rise in industrial machinery import which has increased country's production and its exports. The prices of cotton and rice have improved, which reflects the policies of the government are bearing fruits," he added.