THIS is heartening that the Anti-Corruption Commission has initiated an investigation of the forgery of passport and the national identity cards that has been levelled against two brothers of former army chief Aziz Ahmed. One of the brothers is reported to have obtained a national identity card using an alias and falsifying the name of the parents. He is also reported to have changed his photograph in his national identity card in 2019 on the recommendation by his brother who was then the chief of the army. The other brother is reported to have owned two national identity cards, one in his actual name and the other using an alias with falsified names of his parents. The Anti-Corruption Commission wrote to the Election Commission and the Department of Immigration and Passports in the past week in this connection. The Election Commission has, thereafter, set up a committee with three members of its national identity card wing to establish how the two brothers of the former army chief obtained the national identity cards by falsifying information. The commission started looking into the corruption allegations levelled against the former army chief after the United States on May 21 had imposed sanctions on him and his family over their reported involvement in serious corruption that bar them from entering the United States.
But what makes it a curious case is that the Anti-Corruption Commission or any other authorities are yet to initiate any investigation of the alleged forgery of passport by former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed. He is reported to have obtained an ordinary passport despite having been a public servant. The Anti-Corruption Commission, which is investigating the illegal wealth accumulation by the former police chief and his family, is yet to initiate an inquiry into his reported passport forgery. A commission鈥檚 lawyer seeks to say that the commission is now looking into the allegations of wealth accumulation and illicit capital flow levelled against him and the commission would take further steps if the inquiry finds other irregularities, such as the one talked about in the issuance of his passport. The proposition is disparaging. The chief election commissioner is reported to have said that in the event of any abuse of national identity card issuance process, even by 0.01 per cent of the people, efforts should be made to hold such people to justice. The former police chief, along with his family, is reported to have left the country, amidst allegations of illegal wealth accumulation and money laundering using a passport reported to have been forged. It is, therefore, imperative that the authorities should investigate the issue without delay.
While the authorities must investigate the alleged passport forgery by the former police chief, they must also hold all the agencies involved in the process to account for the crime if the allegations are found true. The proposition also brings to the fore the precariousness of the passport and the national identity card issuance process. There must not be any quarters or individuals in the government or close to the government that can lend a hand to anyone in forging national identity cards and passports.