Staff Reporter
Peshawar
Federal Minister for Interior, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed here Friday said the government would not renew diplomatic passport of Nawaz Sharif which was going to expire on February 16 and it would be considered as cancelled. Addressing a press-conference here at a local hotel after winding up of his two days visit to Khyber Pakthunkhwa and merged tribal district as Interior Minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed clarified that diplomatic passport of Nawaz Sharif was about to expire on February 16 and the government was in no mood to renew it.
He said currently Pakistan had no extradition treaty with Britain under which Nawaz Sharif could be brought back. However, efforts were underway on all fronts to bring him back to face corruption cases. The Minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan was fighting against scourge of corruption and no comprise would be made with corrupt elements.
The Interior Minister said that government has launched online visa system for 191 countries in line with vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan to make visa process easy for people. As result; he said manual visa system has ceased to exist from today. He said the online visa system would help eradicate menace of corruption and ensure transparency besides addressing complaints of people especially with regard to China and Afghanistan. He said on the first day, the online system had received about two lakh applications for visa.
The interior minister said that 528 NGOs were working in Pakistan and added that action would be taken against those NGOs found involved in politics. He said protection of holy places of minorities and their leadership was the top priority of the Government and Chief Minister KP has been directed to take strong notice of the recent Karak’s unfortunate incident.
He said protection of worship places of minorities and their leadership was constitutional and legal obligation of the government and no one would be allowed to take law in their own hands. To a question about damage of Hindu saint shrine in Karak, the Interior Minister said such incidents was not acceptable in the Prime Minister Imran Khan led Government and reiterated that strict action would be taken against responsible.
The Interior Minister said the use of indecent language against armed forces of Pakistan would not be tolerated and the case of JUIF leader Mufti Kifayat has been sent to KP Government for necessary action, adding law would take its own course whosoever use un-parliamentary language against the country’s armed forces. The Interior Minister said political parties were free to exercise their political rights as guaranteed by the Constitution and maintained that the government would take strong action against armed wings of political parties in the country.
