I wish to bring to your notice, that there are people in Islamabad who are running cars with fake license/registration plates. I understand that this is an illegal activity, and I know that the Punjab Government has already initiated a few drives in the past to apprehend the people involved and stop this unlawful activity. I am sure you understand better that using fake license plates is a serious crime. I believe there are various reasons why people engage in this. Either the car is stolen or the drivers seek to escape being caught. Or the car is not registered and the drivers simply attach ‘a license plate’ with any registration number. In this case, the Government is deprived of taxes as well.
I found out a new reason lately, when our current Prime Minister, Mr. Yousaf Raza Gilani traveled from the Prime Minister house to the Supreme Court on the morning of Jan 19th. In the short (less than 2km) distance, the Prime Minister drove a vehicle with fake number plates, which was registered to another car owned by a resident of Lahore. This incident has been covered in the newspapers also, in many e-mails as well as on the online social media. The reason as stated by representatives of the Prime Minister’s house is that fake number plates are used for security reasons. Please see the attached images where the Prime Minister is seen clearly driving a car with fake license plates. Given this new reason, I would like to put forward a query to you and your department. You see, I live in this country as well, and security is as much of a threat to me that it is to high ranking government officials. In fact, they travel with dozens of additional cars for security. I travel alone. While they park their cars behind barricaded roads and walls lined with security, I live in the regular sector of E-11/3 and often park my car on the road. Simply put, my query is, can I, a normal citizen of this country, use fake license plates on my car as well?
OMAR MOEEN MALIK,
Islamabad, January24.