THE Sindh and Punjab governments are involved in issuing fake weapon licences.

This, however, is not considered a crime and no leader has condemned it even mildly. It may be illegal and unethical, but it does tarnish the facade we most care for our international reputation.

Of the 1,057,456 weapon licences issued by the Sindh government, only 56,891 could be verified so far. More than half a million licences (595,146) were declared cancelled, as no one turned up to claim their ownership. In simple words they were fake, forged or fraudulent.

Of the 1.8m licences supposedly issued by the Punjab government, at lease 0.9m licences are fake and fraudulent.

There is no record of who issued them and to whom.

The truth is that weapon licensing is one of the biggest rackets in Pakistan. It deserves the attention of all peaceful and thinking citizens.

Almost all licences have been issued to influential and powerful elite, often forged, sold under the table, without keeping any records and without the necessary background checks.

Naeem Sadiq Karachi