The Asian Human Rights Commission has received updated information on the situation of Mr. Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri and the revocation of his citizenship by the refusal to renew his and the passports of the members of his family.
We have now learned that the situation is as follows: Mr. Kashmiri himself has been granted political asylum by Switzerland. It is the passports of the members of his family, his wife and six children, who are being denied the renewal of their passports by the government of Pakistan.
The reasons given for this move by the Passport and Immigration Department is that Mr. Kashmiri is allegedly involved in anti-Pakistan activities and although no evidence has been provided by the lawyer appearing for the government, he is also accused of burning the Pakistan flag.
What the government fails to understand is that regardless of the veracity of the accusations the members of his family cannot be held responsible or in any way penalised for his actions.
When the single bench of the High Court, consisting of Justice Mamoon Rasheed Sheikh, asked whether the department wanted to revoke the nationality of Mrs. Naseem, Kashmiri’s wife and their six children, the official sought time to submit a written response on behalf of the Ministry of Interior. The court put off the hearing until the third week of November.
Kashmiri was arrested by Pakistani agencies in 1992 and again in 1998 for raising his voice for the independence of Kashmir, an independent territory from India and Pakistan. He left Pakistan in 1998 and applied for asylum in 2000. Later, he settled in Switzerland along with his family where he applied for political asylum.
Mohammad Saleem Khan, the brother of Mrs. Naseem, moved the court through his counsel Nisar Shah saying the government was not renewing the travel documents of his sister and her children.
Justice Sheikh also asked the lawyer appearing on behalf of the Passport and Immigration Division how it was possible for the government to revoke the nationality of any citizen. The lawyer replied that in this instance it was possible because the applicant’s husband had burned the flag of Pakistan and was involved in anti-Pakistan activities. However, it was pointed out by the Mr. Nisar Shah that no such allegation was made during the last hearing and no FIR has ever been filed. A police report for legal process should accompany any such FIR. Furthermore, when the court asked which laws had been transgressed the lawyer for the government side requested three weeks time to prepare his reply.
This is a great mockery of the law and governance as the federal Minister of Interior, Mr. Rahman Malik, himself recommended the renewal of the passports of Kashmiri’s family on June 27, 2010 upon receipt of a letter from Senator Mir Hasil Bizenjo dated June 21. Please see the urgent appeal; http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2010/3529/ where all documents are annexed. Subsequently on July 1, the Assistant Director (Policy), Passport and Immigration Department, Islamabad, asked the Pakistani embassy in Bern, Switzerland, to issue passports to Sardar Shaukat and his family as it was the desire of the Minister for Interior. Initially the embassy authorities quickly took action on the instructions of the minister and also accepted the fees of all passports but later on in the month of August refused to issue them.
This is a model case of how state intelligence agencies are much more powerful than the federal Minister for Interior under whom all the state intelligence agencies are supposed to be working. In the case of the Pakistan side of Kashmir it may be observed that the intelligence agencies, particularly, the ISI, have the upper hand in the local affairs of Kashmir. The AHRC has documented many cases wherein the ISI have kept people incommunicado and tortured them for refusing to join Jihad inside Indian held Kashmir. The people of Pakistan held Kashmir still do not enjoy any freedom according to the law. The judiciary is also under Islamabad.
The government, according to the constitution and laws both local and international cannot revoke the citizenship of any person who was born Pakistani. In this case Kashmiri is a citizen of Pakistan by birth and a first class citizen under the State law of March 27, 1927.Mr. Kashmiri did not migrate from any other state or part of any state currently under India. There is no article or clause in Pakistan’s constitution to revoke his or his family’s nationality but in Pakistan everything is possible under the pressure from the Pakistani intelligence agencies.
The logic of the situation is quite simple; the government in this case cannot take away a person’s nationality because they have not proved any worthwhile charge against him. And, furthermore, if they were able to do so then they still cannot take away the nationality of his family members simply because they cannot be held responsible for his actions.
This, in fact is the first case of any citizen of Pakistan whose nationality has been revoked simply by not allowing the renewal of his passport which is a fundamental right of a citizen of any nation.
The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the authorities to renew the passports of Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri’s family members and follow the citizenship rights of every citizen according to international norms.
