Pakistan, April 27 -- The revelations about thousands of Afghan nationals acquiring Pakistani passports through fraud are a damning indictment of our crumbling institutions.

At a Senate committee meeting, it was disclosed that no fewer than 12,000 Afghan nationals travelled to Saudi Arabia using fake Pakistani documents. Previous efforts to cancel fraudulent CNICs, as announced in 2021, have clearly failed to plug the gaps. Yet, in the face of such glaring evidence, officials continue to assert (with misplaced confidence) that travelling abroad on a fake passport is "impossible."

This brazen compromise of our national database exposes deep rot within NADRA, the body entrusted with safeguarding our identities. Credible reports suggest th...