Devil Soul
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Jordan removes religion from new smart IDs
Jordan's new smart IDs will no longer indicate cardholder's religion
AMMAN: Smart IDs (identities) that don’t indicate the holder’s religion are now replacing traditional IDs in Jordan as part of the government’s digitisation program, Al Bawaba news service reported.
Jordanian smart IDs would include data chips containing background information about the holder for security purposes. The move drew criticism from the country’s conservatives who argued that scrapping religion from national IDs violates article one of the Jordanian constitution, which declares Islam the state religion. Most notable advocate of keeping the religion included was the former Jordanian lawmaker Zakaria El Sheikh who said that the decision was an attempt to “strip the country of its Muslim identity.”
In response to Sheikh, lawyer Taghrid Doghmy fired back saying that the decision was in compliance with the constitution, which stipulates that all citizens are equal under the law. He argued that not specifying a person’s religious views on national ID cards could eliminate religious discrimination.
To address the controversy, Jordan’s Passport Authority Head Marwan Qutaishat explained that “religion cannot be expressed with a written word or a beard.” He added that religion was among the data stored in the chip integrated in smart IDs, but wasn’t shown on it.
King Abdullah the second visited the country’s passport authorities to issue his own in order to show his support for the move and to encourage fellow Jordanians to register for smart IDs.
Jordan's new smart IDs will no longer indicate cardholder's religion
AMMAN: Smart IDs (identities) that don’t indicate the holder’s religion are now replacing traditional IDs in Jordan as part of the government’s digitisation program, Al Bawaba news service reported.
Jordanian smart IDs would include data chips containing background information about the holder for security purposes. The move drew criticism from the country’s conservatives who argued that scrapping religion from national IDs violates article one of the Jordanian constitution, which declares Islam the state religion. Most notable advocate of keeping the religion included was the former Jordanian lawmaker Zakaria El Sheikh who said that the decision was an attempt to “strip the country of its Muslim identity.”
In response to Sheikh, lawyer Taghrid Doghmy fired back saying that the decision was in compliance with the constitution, which stipulates that all citizens are equal under the law. He argued that not specifying a person’s religious views on national ID cards could eliminate religious discrimination.
To address the controversy, Jordan’s Passport Authority Head Marwan Qutaishat explained that “religion cannot be expressed with a written word or a beard.” He added that religion was among the data stored in the chip integrated in smart IDs, but wasn’t shown on it.
King Abdullah the second visited the country’s passport authorities to issue his own in order to show his support for the move and to encourage fellow Jordanians to register for smart IDs.
