The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the National Database and Registration authority (NADRA), a state regulatory body, has refused to renew the National Identification card of Dr. Shabbir Choudry, allegedly on the instruction of the intelligence agencies. Dr. Shabbir Choudry, a Pakistani citizen, is a well known intellectual of the Kashmiri cause and prolific writer, and has courageously given voice to the struggle of Kashmiris on both side of the India-Pakistan border.
Dr. Choudry was unable to travel to Pakistan to bury his father and attend his last rituals and is also facing extreme difficulty in obtaining his inheritance or power of attorney of the property left by his deceased father. The renewal application has been pending with NADRA since 12 June 2015. The embassy of Pakistan has been non cooperative in the matter, despite being approached repeatedly by the victim. No reason is given for the delay while the high commissioner and First Secretary Counselor Section, of Pakistan High Commission London have been non committal in the matter. The victim was informed by the concerned authorities that his application was blocked for an unspecified reason.
CASE NARRATIVE:
Dr Shabbir Choudhry, a prolific writer of many books and an anchor of a current affairs programme, has been actively involved in the struggle for unification and independence of the State of Jammu and Kashmir since 1973. Dr Choudry is an ardent opponent of the state policies on both sides of Jammu and Azad Kashmir, his books are banned by the state and booksellers are ordered not to store or sell any of his books; failing to comply with these orders could result in sealing the shops and fine.
Most recently on 12 June 2015, Dr Choudry made an application for the renewal of his and his wife’s national ID card to NADRA, a state body, at the Pakistan High Commission, London. The expired NIC number is: 811022-823762-1. His wife’s NADRA card was issued on 14 July 2015, and was received on Friday 24 July. However, to date Dr Choudry has not received his ID card, nor has any reason for the delay been given. He contacted the First Secretary Counsellor Section, Pakistan High Commission London on four different occasions to enquire about the status of his application, and each time he was assured that the new card was waiting to be printed.
On Saturday, 29 August 2015, Dr. Choudry’s father died in England, and in accordance with his will, his dead body was flown to Pakistan to be buried. Due to the non issuance of his ID card, Dr. Choudry was unable to travel to Kashmir with the rest of his family to perform the last rituals of his father.
On 20 October 2015, he again contacted the embassy to ask about the update on his application. The first secretary, counselor section Mr. Allah Bukhsh Zia, expressed surprise at the delay, and he could not even give Dr Choudry the exact status of his application. Dr Choudry appraised Mr. Allah Bukhsh of the difficulty in inheriting the property and bank account of his deceased father.
On 27 October 2015, Dr Choudry requested to meet Head of Counselor Section Dr. Israr Hussain to discuss attestation of power of attorney for a female family member. He was asked to visit the next day, and when Dr Choudry tried to reach Dr Israr his phone was switched off. The utter non professionalism and lack of due courtesy is a norm at the embassy, and complaints by Pakistanis fall on deaf ears. Like countless expat Pakistanis, Dr Choudry felt humiliated and angered by the lack of cooperation of the High Commissioner at the Pakistan Embassy in London. The letters written to the High commissioner and First Secretary Counsellor Section, Pakistan High Commission London can be viewed here:
http://www.humanrights.asia/news/urgent-appeals/pdf/AHRC-UAC-150-2015-01.pdf
http://www.humanrights.asia/news/urgent-appeals/pdf/AHRC-UAC-150-2015-02.pdf
http://www.humanrights.asia/news/urgent-appeals/pdf/AHRC-UAC-150-2015-03.pdf
Dr. Choudry also filed a complaint with complaints Officer Mr Janjua. After speaking to the concerned people he told him that his application was ‘blocked’ for some reason, and that they have sent an email to obtain information regarding this. To date, no response has been received. Being a citizen of Pakistan, Dr. Choudry deserves the right to be recognized as a citizen of the state, it is his non derogable right to be treated with respect and dignity.
The government of Pakistan and NADRA’s actions are in contravention of Article 12 of the ICCPR which states:
1. Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence.
2. Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own.
4. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.
The government of Pakistan is denying the right of citizenship to its lawful citizen, no country in the world can be allowed to disown its own subject. The constitution of Pakistan too directs that freedom of movement is a fundamental right that cannot be abrogated under any circumstances whatsoever in Article 15:
“Every citizen shall have the right to remain in, and, subject, to any reasonable restriction imposed by law in the public interest, enter and move freely throughout Pakistan and to reside and settle in any part thereof.”
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the authorities asking them to renew the National ID card of the applicant as this is the right of every citizen of Pakistan and the denial of renewal is a violation of the basic right of the civilians. Please urge them to prosecute the concerned officials who are involved in denying the right to freedom of movement, and right to citizenship.
The AHRC will write a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of the Human Rights of Migrants and UN High Commissioner for Refugees calling for their intervention into this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ………………..,
PAKISTAN: Intelligence agencies refuse to renew national identification of Kashmiri writer
Name of victim: Dr Shabbir Choudhry, UK
Names of alleged perpetrators:
1. Intelligence agencies of Pakistan
2. Allah Bakhsh Zia, First Secretary Counsellor Section, Pakistan High Commission London
3. Syed Ibne Abbas,High Commissioner of Pakistan
Date of incident: 12 June 2015
Place of incident: London, UK
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the renewal of the National Identification card of Dr. Shabbir Choudry, allegedly on the instruction of the intelligence agencies. Dr. Shabbir Choudry, a Pakistani citizen, is a well known intellectual of the Kashmiri cause and prolific writer, and has courageously given voice to the struggle of Kashmiris on both side of the India-Pakistan border.
Dr. Choudry was unable to travel to Pakistan to bury his father and attend his last rituals and is also facing extreme difficulty in obtaining his inheritance or power of attorney of the property left by his deceased father. The renewal application has been pending with NADRA since 12 June 2015. The embassy of Pakistan has been non cooperative in the matter, despite being approached repeatedly by the victim. The victim was informed by the concerned authorities that his application was blocked for an unspecified reason.
According to the information I received that Dr Shabbir Choudhry, a prolific writer of many books and an anchor of a current affairs programme, has been actively involved in the struggle for unification and independence of the State of Jammu and Kashmir since 1973. Dr Choudry is an ardent opponent of the state policies on both sides of Jammu and Azad Kashmir, his books are banned by the state and booksellers are ordered not to store or sell any of his books; failing to comply with these orders could result in sealing the shops and fine.
Most recently on 12 June 2015, Dr Choudry made an application for the renewal of his and his wife’s national ID card to NADRA, a state body, at the Pakistan High Commission, London. The expired NIC number is: 811022-823762-1. His wife’s NADRA card was issued on 14 July 2015, and was received on Friday 24 July. However, to date Dr Choudry has not received his ID card, nor has any reason for the delay been given. He contacted the First Secretary Counsellor Section, Pakistan High Commission London on four different occasions to enquire about the status of his application, and each time he was assured that the new card was waiting to be printed.
On Saturday, 29 August 2015, Dr. Choudry’s father died in England, and in accordance with his will, his dead body was flown to Pakistan to be buried. Due to the non issuance of his ID card, Dr. Choudry was unable to travel to Kashmir with the rest of his family to perform the last rituals of his father.
I appalled to know that on 20 October 2015, he again contacted the embassy to ask about the update on his application. The first secretary, counselor section Mr. Allah Bukhsh Zia, expressed surprise at the delay, and he could not even give Dr Choudry the exact status of his application. Dr Choudry apprised Mr. Allah Bukhsh of the difficulty in inheriting the property and bank account of his deceased father.
On 27 October 2015, Dr Choudry requested to meet Head of Counselor Section Dr. Israr Hussain to discuss attestation of power of attorney for a female family member. He was asked to visit the next day, and when Dr Choudry tried to reach Dr Israr his phone was switched off. The utter non professionalism and lack of due courtesy is a norm at the embassy, and complaints by Pakistanis fall on deaf ears. Like countless expat Pakistanis, Dr Choudry felt humiliated and angered by the lack of cooperation of the High Commissioner at the Pakistan Embassy in London. The letters written to the High commissioner and First Secretary Counsellor Section, Pakistan High Commission London can be viewed here;
http://www.humanrights.asia/news/urgent-appeals/pdf/AHRC-UAC-150-2015-01.pdf
http://www.humanrights.asia/news/urgent-appeals/pdf/AHRC-UAC-150-2015-02.pdf
http://www.humanrights.asia/news/urgent-appeals/pdf/AHRC-UAC-150-2015-03.pdf
Dr. Choudry also filed a complaint with complaints Officer Mr Janjua. After speaking to the concerned people he told him that his application was ‘blocked’ for some reason, and that they have sent an email to obtain information regarding this. To date, no response has been received. Being a citizen of Pakistan, Dr. Choudry deserves the right to be recognized as a citizen of the state, it is his non derogable right to be treated with respect and dignity.
I hereby in view that the government of Pakistan and NADRA’s actions are in contravention of Article 12 of the ICCPR which states:
1. Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence.
2. Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own.
4. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.
The government of Pakistan is denying the right of citizenship to its lawful citizen, no country in the world can be allowed to disown its own subject. The constitution of Pakistan too directs that freedom of movement is a fundamental right that cannot be abrogated under any circumstances whatsoever in Article 15:
“Every citizen shall have the right to remain in, and, subject, to any reasonable restriction imposed by law in the public interest, enter and move freely throughout Pakistan and to reside and settle in any part thereof.”
I therefore, urge you to take immediate action to renew Dr. Choudry’s identification card, which is a fundamental human right. Please also take action against those responsible for the delay. I also urge you to authorities of UK mission to renew the National ID card of the applicant as this is the right of every citizen of Pakistan and the denial of renewal is a violation of the basic right of the civilians. Please also prosecute the concerned officials who are involved in denying the right to freedom of movement, and right to citizenship.
Yours sincerely,
……………….
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Mian Nawaz Sharif
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk, pspm@pmsectt.gov.pk
2. Mr. Syed Ibne Abbas
Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK
34-36 Lowndes Square, London SW1X 9JN, United Kingdom
+442076649200
Fax: 020 7664 9228
Email: consular@phclondon.org
3. Mr. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
Federal Minister
Ministry of Interior of Pakistan
R Block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9212026
Fax: +92 51 9202624
Email: interior.complaintcell@gmail.com
ministry.interior@gmail.com
4. Director
NADRA Office
High Commission for Pakistan
34 Lowndes Square
London
SW1X 9JN
Fax (Attention your faxes to NADRA): +44 207 664 9224
Email: nadra.london@phclondon.org
5. NADRA Headquarters,
G-5/2
Islamabad, Pakistan
Email: info.pakid@nadra.gov.pk
support.pakid@nadra.gov.pk
Phone :+92 (51) 111 786 100
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
