Imran Khan has appeared to drop his promise to grant citizenship to hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees living on the margins of Pakistani society. On Sunday, Khan announced that he would start working immediately to provide passports to the children of refugees born in the country. About 2.7 million Afghan refugees have crossed the border into Pakistan since the soviet invasion in 1979. Without official documentation they are shut out of schools and employment. As many as 1.5 million children born to refugees in Pakistan are denied citizenship. After a strong Push-back, Khan said he had raised refugee citizenship “Just to initiate a debate”. The founder of (PTI) swept to power in July, has a reputation for retracting his words.

HUMERA M. UMER,

Lahore, September 22.