G-B chief minister's LLB degree turns out to be fake

The Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree of Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan Khalid Khurshid has turned out to be fake, a year after he was appointed to the post.

It emerged on Tuesday that Khurshid had acquired his degree from a network of diploma mills operating under the brand name Belford, but it doesn't actually exist.

He was entrusted with the top slot over his 'outstanding educational achievements', something even Prime Minister Imran Khan was misled into believing as he called him a ‘right choice’ last year.

Documents available exclusively with The Express Tribune reveal that Khurshid had received his 'degree from Belford University in June 2009 while he was in England for some time.

Once back in the country, his relatives and close aids started addressing him as a barrister, and he took benefit of the same leading up to becoming the chief minister of the region.

Also read: PTI MPA's degree declared fake by Punjab University

According to Wikipedia, Belford University was shut down on August 31, 2012 and its alleged founder Salem Kureshi was "ordered to pay $22.7 million in damages".

The judgement had established the truth that Belford High School and Belford University were fake schools and that they didn't exist.

In another contradiction on Wikipedia itself where Khurshid’s alma mater has been stated as Queen Mary University London while his profession as politician or barrister.

'Fake credentials'

In November 2011, Khurshid submitted his credential to the Gilgit-Baltistan Bar Council to get himself enrolled there as a certified lawyer.

The documents that he submitted included an affidavit testifying the authenticity of the documents. Interestingly, the documents submitted by him lacked a Bachelor of Arts degree, something that should have raised suspicions about his completion of the programme.

According to sources, the G-B Bar Council trusted his documents and got him enrolled as a lawyer and issued him the licence to practice.

However, despite having the licence, Khurshid was never an active practising lawyer though he would visit the bar room regularly.

Khurshid first contested G-B elections in 2009 as an independent candidate. In 2015, he again contested and lost as an independent candidate after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz refused him a ticket, preferring its old candidate Rana Farman.

Taking on the CM slot

Khurshid joined Pakistan Tehreek-s-Insaf in 2018 and was made the divisional president of Diamer- Astore.

As G-B headed to the general elections in 2020, former PTI president justice Jafar Shah passed away. His sudden demise left a vacuum open in the party.

Also read: Beyond degrees and skills

According to the insiders, his relatives being in key positions, including one working with a UN organisation abroad, played smartly and were able to introduce 'Barrister' Khalid Khurshid along with Asad Umar and Saifullah Niazi.

Since Khurshid was good in spoken English due to his stint in England, he was picked for the slot.

'Sadiq and Amin'

On Tuesday, the G-B assembly session was also called by the governor. However, it had to be adjourned for lack of quorum.

While talking to media persons in his chamber, opposition leader Amjad Hussain had claimed that Khurshid’s degree was fake and that he had proof of it.

“I was shocked and still in shock to know that,” Hussain said. "I couldn’t imagine this would be done by a person for personal gains."

Amjad asked the chief minister to resign immediately as the ‘secret’ is out now and he isn’t Sadiq and Amin anymore as per Article 62 of the Constitution.

Khalid Khurshid is said to have outsmarted many big guns in the party making them believe a barrister was the most suitable person to be chief minister.