‘No list of expats being made for prosecution’

WASHINGTON: Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar has dispelled the impression that law enforcement agencies are preparing a list of overseas Pakistanis, who will be prosecuted for participating in anti-government rallies when they return home.

“The government is not considering any action against overseas Pakistan as they are our valuable assets,” said Mr Tarar while addressing Pakistani community at the embassy on Friday.

The rumours, that started after the May 9 violence, also advised dual citizens not to travel to Pakistan on Pakistani passports as doing so would allow authorities to arrest them.

The speculations were so strong that even US officials were forced to clarify that they never advised American citizens of Pakistani origin on how to travel to Pakistan and how to avoid getting arrested.

Mr Tarar said the government was “taking action but only against those who set fire to government properties”.

He said overseas Pakistanis had every right to “participate in the political process in Pakistan,” but they should avoid getting involved in “hasty and thoughtless actions that can be detrimental to democracy and the democratic process.”

The government, he said, was considering various proposals to give overseas Pakistanis the right to vote, but “the consensus of all political forces is needed to make a better strategy.”

Later, Mr Tarar met Republican and Democratic members of the US Congress and explained the government’s position on the current political dispute. He also met an official of the US State Department’s Legal Bureau Richard Wyske.