A new bill was introduced in the National Assembly to deprive Pakistanis living abroad of their right to vote. Amjad Ali Syed, chairman of IPC Pakistan, expressed concern over the denial of voting rights to overseas Pakistanis and strongly condemned the government’s move.

Amjad Ali Syed, Chairman of IPC Pakistan, said that the Overseas Pakistanis strongly condemn the way in which the right to vote has been taken away by introducing a new bill in the Pakistan National Assembly today.

Amjad Ali Syed, in particular, appealed to the judiciary to take immediate notice of the matter and requested that the bill be stopped. He said that overseas Pakistanis are equal to Pakistanis living within the country. They are the people with Pakistani passports who use Pakistani identity cards and come to Pakistan. These Pakistanis live far away from their families and face hardships for the betterment of their country and family. The families overseas are in Pakistan, where they have a significant share in the investment and trade of the country. And it sends a huge revenue to Pakistan.

Syed Ali Amjad also expressed concern over the fact that no government, for the sake of political interests, has the right to deprive overseas Pakistanis of their basic rights. He said that when we as citizens are not given any rights, then how can we have the right to be called Pakistani. He further said that it is likely that any other government will come and snatch Pakistani passports from us.

Syed Amjad Ali emphasised that the services of overseas Pakistanis should be recognised and demanded that the bill presented in the National Assembly be withdrawn and the old bill be implemented. Overseas Pakistanis should be respected and their constitutional and fundamental rights should not be taken away.