ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government is considering modification of its passport policy regarding married and divorced women, a senior official said on Thursday, after a woman lawyer brought the issue to light this week.
The matter relates to the condition that a married woman’s passport would bear the name of her husband instead of her father. The move has highlighted contradictions between the policies of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and Directorate General Immigration & Passports (DGIP) that possess data of citizens across the country.
Khadija Bukhari, a lawyer whose petition in this regard is being heard by the Lahore High Court, this week told a private news channel the issue could cause inconvenience and distress for women who wanted to retain their father’s name on their identification documents, regardless of whether they were married or divorced.
However, Immigration and Passports Director-General Mustafa Jamal Kazi said it was a “legal requirement” for a married woman to have her husband’s name on her passport as the document was used internationally and must comply with international agreements, unlike NADRA-issued computerized national identity cards (CNICs) that were used only in Pakistan.
“These rules are driven through the act of parliament and secretary interior has constituted a committee under his chairmanship to solve this issue. The committee will look into the passport policy concerning the condition of a married woman’s passport bearing her husband’s name instead of her father’s name,” Kazi told Arab News.
“The committee was tasked with addressing discrepancies between the policies of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and the passport issuing authority regarding married women.”
Bukhari said she had her husband’s name included to her CNIC for their marriage to be registered with NADRA, but later decided to retain her father’s name in the second column of her CNIC.
“So, there was no problem with that. Once I went to the passport office when my passport expired, they said ‘we cannot renew your passport because your CNIC has not been updated’,” she told Arab News.
“By that it was meant that ‘you’re supposed to be wife of you cannot remain daughter of, if you want to get a passport. So first go back to NADRA, get your CNIC changed and reflect that you are wife of and then we will process your application’.”
Bukhari argued that if NADRA didn’t have a problem referring to her as “daughter of,” then why the passport authorities could not do it.
Immigration and Passports DG Kazi said the solution to this problem, which he also intended to present to the government committee, was to add another column to the passport to include the name of a woman’s ex-husband, who is the father of their children, in case of a divorce.
“We need all the detail in our database because for international verifications different countries send the data of Pakistani citizens to us and we need to verify from every aspect,” he said.
“Therefore, we need all the information and concealing facts can cause problems for them [women] at later stage.”

ISLAMABAD: Saqib Lateef stood out at Islamabad’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) training club this week, moving on the black mat with a grace and precision that defied his 59 years of age, and which have turned him into an inspiration for the younger athletes who train at the facility. 
After retiring from the Pakistan army as a colonel in 2012 and transitioning through various jobs, Saqib Lateef discovered his passion for physical fitness and martial arts, particularly BJJ, a hybrid self-defense system based on traditional Japanese Jujitsu and Kodokan Judo and involving grappling, ground fighting, and submission holds.
“I have turned 59 and my own weight is 74 kg and I am 5 feet 10 inches in height,” Lateef told Arab News between fights. “So, I have sparred [fought] with all of them [younger athletes], people who are on the mat. They have got a lot of different weights, and I can take on anyone of them.”
BJJ revolves around the concept that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend themselves against a bigger, stronger, heavier opponent by using leverage and weight distribution, taking the fight to the ground and using a number of holds and submissions to defeat them.
“I always test my limits, that how can I engage with younger people on the mat,” Lateeq said, explaining the fundamentals of BJJ.
“So, they are faster than me, and they are more resilient than me, and they have got more physical power. So it was a challenge for me to have a submission [defeat opponent] but in this old age, I can do submissions on them.”
“You don’t end up knocking someone off his face or drawing blood or causing a brain contusion,” added Osama Ahmed Aitzaz, who owns the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club, the only one in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, which he opened last year after returning from Australia. 
“With this [BJJ], you just take the person to the ground. So we learn that stuff, how to take down a person and then there’s not much damage done.”
“ALL AGES, ALL SIZES”
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was first developed in 1925 by Brazilian brothers Carlos, Oswaldo, Gastão Jr., and Hélio Gracie, after Carlos was taught a hybrid of traditional Japanese Jujitsu and Kodokan judo by a traveling Japanese judoka, Mitsuyo Maeda, in 1917. Later on, the Gracie family developed their own self-defense system Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, changing the face of unarmed combat by turning the confused chaos of ground fighting into a dynamic science of joint locks, chokes and strangles.
“Matter of fact, the person who developed this, what we call now Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, they were of the stature of being old and being skinny and fighting against a bigger and a stronger opponent,” Aitzaz, a blue belt, four-stripe practitioner of the discipline, told Arab News. 
“So Jiu-Jitsu welcomes all ages, all sizes … It does not just give you physical strength but also mental strength.”
The trainer applauded Lateef’s commitment and skill, saying his presence in the fighting arena had a positive impact on others.
“We love him, he puts us all to shame, especially the young ones,” Aitzaz said, smiling. “He gives me a bit of a reason to say [to younger participants], ‘Hang on, look at this fella, he’s 59. You have no excuse.’ So yeah, it’s perfect. We love him.”
For Lateef, the sport is not just about self-defense or combat but also about learning patience and bringing positivity into his life, which he also advises others to do. 
“People [who are] redundant, doing nothing, and sitting and watching TV, and eating, and with a bad lifestyle, [these] people should change their lifestyle, do some physical activities,” Lateef said as he prepared to tackle an opponent. 
“The more physical activity there is, the less ailments there will be … You should focus on how much you give physically to your body, because once you physically engage your body, then positiveness comes out of your body.”