ISLAMABAD: A petition has been filed in the Islamabad High Court to seek disqualification of two parliamentarians for being Afghan nationals.

The parliamentarians elected from the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas are Bismillah Jan, a member of the National Assembly, and his relative Hidayatullah, a senator.

The petition filed by one Nasirul Haq has nominated the secretaries of the ministries of interior, foreign affairs and states and frontier regions and the Election Commission of Pakistan, the chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority and the director general of the Intelligence Bureau, with the two lawmakers, as respondents.

The petition alleges that the two parliamentarians concealed their Afghan nationality and gave false undertaking before the returning officers. In addition, they took `false oath` in the National Assembly and the Senate, respectively.

The petition has requested the court to direct the respondent authorities to examine related documents and verify their status from the Afghan government.

It says that had the voters known that the two respondents were impersonating as Pakistani citizens, the situation would have been different and they might not have found the same level of support from the people of the area.

It claims that Bismillah Jan is great grandson of Ahmad Jan, an Afghannational from Lalpura in Nangarhar. After his death, the petition says, Masoom Jan, father of Bismillah Jan and grandfather of Hidayatullah, settled in Kotkal in Bajaur Agency.

It says that after Masoom Jan`s death in 1981, Bismillah Jan became the head of his family but like his predecessors, he maintains his Afghan origin and spent most of his time in Afghanistan.

The petition claims that Bismillah Jan is a holder of the Afghan national identity card called Tazkira and the Afghan department of population and census has certified the fact in an official declaration.

According to the petition, after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Bismillah Jan`s family permanently shifted to Bajaur Agency and took benefit of rehabilitation packages for Afghan refugees.

It says that one of the lawmakers` relatives is a serving brigadier in the Afghan National Army and another is a deputy lieutenant general in the Afghan Special Forces.

Being dual nationals, the two lawmakers should have declared this fact at the time of filing nomination papers, the petition says, adding that they are ineligible to contest elections in terms of Article 63 (1) (c)ofthe Constitution.

Talking to Dawn, Bismillah Jan said that he was the chieftain of his tribe based in Bajaur Agency and his ancestors had lived in the area for over seven centuries.

He said that after he pointed out some influential Afghan nationals in Bajaur Agency, they turned hostile towards him and his family and launched a campaign against him.

The MNA said that he would contest the allegations levelled against him in the court.