The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has been approached for Pakistan citizenship under Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951 by a man who was born to Afghan refugee parents. Advocate Umar Gilani on Saturday filed a petition on behalf of Fazal Haq, born to Afghan refugee parents in Peshawar in 1998.
Gilani submitted that the petitioner since his birth lived, studied and worked all his life in Pakistan. He is a skilled gemstone trader, who is contributing to Pakistan's economy, especially its exports.
The petition asserts that the petitioner is entitled to citizenship under Section 4 of the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951. This law, which was made by the founding fathers of Pakistan, confers citizenship upon all children born on Pakistan territory, and does not discriminate between them on grounds of race, ethnicity or religion.
The petitioner has also placed reliance upon speeches made in Parliament by Prime Minster Imran Khan on October 18, 2018, and by Minister of Human Rights on October 25, 2018, which created a legitimate expectation in the petitioner's favour.
In 2019, the petitioner repeatedly approached the Nadra officials in Islamabad to seek a National Identity Card. However, he was denied this on the grounds that his parents are persons of Afghan refugee origin. He served legal notices upon Nadra reminding it about Pakistan's non-discriminatory citizenship laws, but received no reply.
The petitioner states he was not only born in Pakistan but he has spent his entire life here. He has never even visited or seen Afghanistan. Pakistan is the only home he knows. All of his friends are from Pakistan. All his life, he has been paying indirect tax (sales tax on goods, sales tax on services, customs and excise duties) to the state of Pakistan and he has always abided by Pakistani laws.
He is as much as a citizen of Pakistan as anyone else born within the territorial confines of Pakistan. The petition states that because of not getting a CNIC, the petitioner is suffering on a daily basis. He is unable to set up a bank account. He is unable to get a passport. He is unable to buy a motorbike in his own name.
He is unable to get relevant business licences, which would allow him to run a business. As a result, he is condemned to living the life of a second-class citizen who can only work for others but not run an enterprise of his own.
The petitioner claims that he and others in his situation are at present regulated to the status of second class citizens, which is a form of exploitation, which must be eliminated, as required by Article 3 of the Constitution.
Furthermore, if the legal status of the petitioner and others in his position is recognized as prayed for in the present petition, they will be able to contribute substantially to Pakistan's economy through their hard work.
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