LAHORE:
The passports of thousands of people in Punjab have been blocked during the last 2 years due to their suspicion of participation in the incidents of disturbances of May 9, 2023, which leads to the cancellation of their international trips, including the pilgrimage to Makkah.
Interestingly, a PAkGazette fencing was used to identify the alleged active uprooters in a particular area on May 9 and May 10, 2023. As a result, dozens of people, including employees of government and private organizations, whose workplaces were located in those localities and used phones during fussors, they faced the blacklist of Pasapia passes.
Several of these people learned that their passports have been blocked only when they arrived at the airport to fly to foreign destinations or went to the passport office to renew their documents. Dozens of these people have now approached the Superior Court of Lahore (LHC).
Upon hearing these requests, the LHC has summoned passport officials along with the records.
In many of these cases, passport authorities have already submitted records to the court that show that passports have been in the blacklist. The passport and immigration department told the LHC that the task of passports in the blacklist does not fall under its jurisdiction and that the Ministry of Interior includes and eliminates the names of the blacklist and the output control list (ECL).
They affirmed that the names of the petitioners were added to the blacklist due to their alleged participation in the incidents of May 9. Those people whose names are on the blacklist or whose passports have expired cannot renew their document until their names are eliminated from the blacklist.
The violent protests exploded throughout the country after the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on May 9, 2023.
During agitation, attacks were carried out in 39 military facilities throughout the country between 3 pm and 7 pm on May 9. Most of these attacks, 23, occurred in Punjab, followed by 8 in KP, 7 in Sindh and one in Baluchistan.
The main military facilities attacked included the GHQ in Rawalpindi, the house of the body commander in Lahore, the base of the Myianwali Air Force and the ISI offices in Faisalabad, Sargodha and Rawalpindi.
