The end is nigh for dodgy degree holders?

ISLAMABAD: Due at the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) offices today are nine legislators, including two federal ministers, who are to establish the authenticity of their academic degrees. An official source says the nine were summoned by the ECP after having been accused of presenting fake degrees to contest elections to the parliament and provincial assemblies.

Prominently featured on the list are federal Minister for Livestock Mir Hamayoun Aziz Kurd and Postal Services Minister Mir Israrullah Zehri, both, incidentally, hailing from Balochistan. With them are MNAs Syed Mohsin Salman, Syed Javed Husnain, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa MPAs Gulistan Khan, Khalifa Abdul Qayyum, Kishore Kumar as well as Balochistan MPA Shama Perveen Magsi and Punjab MPA Saima Aziz.

Earlier, the Higher Education Commission had rubbished the degrees of the nine as forged and fabricated. Despite the ECP’s earlier requests, the legislators failed to appear before the election watchdog. Now, says the source, the nine are to present the original documents before the ECP, failing which the commission is determined to press ahead with an ex parte decision.

Those who fail to satisfy the commission regarding the authenticity of their degrees are liable to be tried by a sessions court and could face up to three years in jail as well as a fine.

Once found guilty, the legislators could face a seven-year bar on contesting elections and running for public office. Besides, they could also be charged on counts such as fraud, cheating and misrepresentations to election officers.

According to an earlier judgment of the Supreme Court, the courts are to decide such cases within three months.

ECP sources say Kurd, Zehri and Magsi have submitted purported Bachelor’s degrees from “a nonexistent International University of United States, London”. Meanwhile, Salman, Husnain and Qayyum are touting degrees from obscure religious schools the HEC says were not authorised to issue degrees under Wafaq-ul-Madaris rules.

Aziz had presented a Bachelor’s degree from the Islamic University of Bahawalpur whereas Kumar had claimed that he was a student at Gomal University in Dera Ismail Khan. However, according to the HEC, neither attended these universities.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2010.