PkMAP chief protests against government blocking of identity cards for Pakhtuns

Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai has warned the Pakistan government to stop treating 30 million Pakhtuns as second class citizens of Pakistan.

Reacting to Islamabad's move to blocking the issue of thousands of Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) to the Pakhtun community, Achakzai said that the government should stop treating Pakhtuns like Afghans, as they had come from Afghanistan before 1947. He insisted that Pakhtuns should be treated as citizens of Pakistan.

According to reports, Dr. Ghulam Sarwar Mandokhe, a member of the PkMAP executive body in Islamabad, has claimed that 250,000 CNICs had been blocked and over 30,000 cancelled all over the country.

The cancellation of the CNICs means Pakhtuns are unable to open bank accounts. They are also prevented from pursuing any business and are denied passports.