Islamabad: The Interior Ministry has presented details regarding the blocking of national identity cards over the past five years in a written response to the National Assembly during a question session. According to the report, a total of 71,849 identity cards were blocked nationwide during this period.
The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa witnessed the highest number of blocked cards at 25,981, followed by Punjab with over 13,000, Sindh with 9,677, and Balochistan with 20,583 blocked identity cards. Meanwhile, in the federal capital Islamabad, 1,370 cards were blocked, alongside 228 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 446 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The ministry also disclosed that 44,460 identity cards were unblocked after necessary verification processes. However, 13,618 blocked cards are still under investigation.
According to sources, a recent surge in identity card blocking across Pakistan, with key reasons including political activities. Hundreds of activists from major political parties, such as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), were placed on the Fourth Schedule and had their ID cards blocked due to alleged involvement in anti-state political activities.
Government sources further revealed that other reasons for blocking ID cards include suspected links to terrorism, involvement in local crimes, and issuance of illegal identity documents to Afghan nationals.
