ISLAMABAD, 15 March 2005 — Fundamental changes brought about recently in the new machine-readable Pakistani passport has created such a furor in the country that religious parties are calling for nationwide strikes and boycott of Parliament.
In what is seen by many as yet another gesture by President Pervez Musharraf to appease his US allies, the new passport shows the country’s name as “Pakistan” instead of its complete constitutional name “Islamic Republic of Pakistan” and deletes mention of the holder’s religion.
According to the government it is too late to make changes as millions of passports have already been printed and it is unlikely to change the text or insert the religion column in the new passport because of “technical” reasons. Also, it is adamant that there would be no compromise on inscription of the full constitutional name of the country on the passport in English. However, in Urdu it still reads “Islami Jamhooriya Pakistan” (Islamic Republic of Pakistan), though in English only “Pakistan” is printed.
The Pakistan Muslim League leadership is clear that in keeping with the “technical” aspects of the new passport “the exclusion of religion column for the time being may be acceptable”, sources maintained, but as far as the full constitutional name of the country is concerned both the Muslim League and the main opposition party, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), have been demanding that the passport also contain “Islamic Republic of Pakistan” on it.
A Cabinet committee was set up last week by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to discuss the religion column issue after differences on it emerged between the government and the ruling party. The MMA has been insisting that the religion column be retained. The committee is expected to submit its report to the prime minister in a few days. Sources close to the ruling party privately concede that the government has mishandled the religion column issue.
All religious parties of the country have threatened the government with “besieging” the Parliament House and the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) and passport offices until the issues are resolved.
The threat came at an Almi Majlis Tahafuz-e-Khatme Nabuwat (AMTKN) conference in Islamabad which decided to form a special committee to organize a countrywide strike with transporters and the business community.
MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed alleged that officials associated with Ahmedias (Qadiyanis) had been posted in senior positions and were planning to destabilize the country, and deletion of religion column from the Pakistani passport was meant to enable them to reach Islamic holy places.
He said Musharraf was mocking Islam and undermining Pakistan’s ideology. He said Qur’anic verses were being deleted from the curriculum and the education system was being handed over to the Aga Khan Foundation.
