Pakistan

Exodus from Bol begins over Axact scandal

Journalists belonging to Axact's media initiative Bol Network announce resignations on Twitter

Web Desk May 23, 2015

PHOTO: FORBES

Journalists belonging to Axact's media initiative Bol Network began dissociating themselves from the network late on Saturday, days after a NYT report revealed the company was running the world's largest fake diploma mill.

Senior journalist Kamran Khan was the first to announce his decision to resign from Bol Network on Twitter.

Read: Fake diplomas, real cash: Pakistani company Axact reaps millions

The journalist tweeted: "Charges against Axact far from proven in court but my conscience not letting me continue. I've decided to disassociate from Bol immediately."

Charges against Axact far from proven in court but my conscience not letting me continue.I've decided to disassociate from Bol immediately
— Kamran Khan (@AajKamranKhan) May 23, 2015

Shortly after Kamran's resignation, Azhar Abbas, Iftikhar Ahmed, Wajahat Khan, Asma Shirazi and Nusrat Javeed also tweeted that they have resigned from the network.

I can not work for an organization whose basic workings conflict with my proffesional comittment.Ive decided to disassociate myself from Bol
— Iftikhar Ahmad (@jawabdeyh) May 23, 2015

I have resigned from BOL after speaking to my editors and staff. I did put together a great team of journalists. Wish them best
— Azhar Abbas (@AzharAbbas3) May 23, 2015

It's done. I will be back, but not on Bol. Pakistan Zindabad. Journalism Paindabad.
— Wajahat S. Khan (@WajSKhan) May 23, 2015

I have Resigned from Bol News, truth must prevail.
— Asma Shirazi (@asmashirazi) May 23, 2015

Earlier during the day, Shirazi tweeted that she will resign immediately if allegations against Bol are proven true.

Investigations against #Axact underway, wl resign immediately if they prove guilty “@IAmBHUTOO: @asmashirazi leave it for your self respect”
— Asma Shirazi (@asmashirazi) May 23, 2015

Nusrat Javeed tweeted "Although I strongly feel that my colleagues in media rushed to pass final judgement regarding our relations with Bol. Yet I am quitting."

He respected sentiments of his colleague Mushtaq Minhas who announced that he could not abandon the channel's staff and will be staying on.

I cannot leave my 2200 colleagues to prove myself a hero.
— Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas (@mushtaqminhas) May 23, 2015

I m grateful to Nusrat Bhai to understand my position and endorsing it firmly.
— Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas (@mushtaqminhas) May 23, 2015

Although I will never be able to imagine my career without him after along association of 8 years.
— Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas (@mushtaqminhas) May 23, 2015

I will remain until my last breath as a devoted younger brother of Nusrat Bhai.
— Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas (@mushtaqminhas) May 23, 2015

Jasmeen Manzoor too announced that she was staying with Bol, for now.

I will let my viewers know about my decision soon ! I have not resigned yet from bol
— Jasmeen Manzoor (@jasmeenmanzoor) May 23, 2015

Hours before his resignation Kamran tweeted that many 'respected senior journalists,' including himself, were reviewing their decision to stay at Bol or not.

My self many respected senior journalists associated with Bol reviewing situation threadbare will make judgment soon..truth must prevail
— Kamran Khan (@AajKamranKhan) May 23, 2015

Read: Senior journalist Kamran Khan resigns from Geo

Earlier, a political analyst tweeted that the two 'main pillars' of Bol network would tender their resignations soon in an apparent reference to senior journalists Kamran Khan and Azhar Abbas.

Two main pillars of Bol Network will tender their resignation very soon, insist my sources.
— Murtaza Solangi (@murtazasolangi) May 23, 2015

As per my tweet of 19/05 on this issue MY position is very clear & same. I just need 2 talk 2 my sr editors and staff before announcing it
— Azhar Abbas (@AzharAbbas3) May 23, 2015

Further, earlier, Wajahat Khan also tweeted he was consulting his mentors and family whether to stay at the network or not.

Thinking about it. Hard. Consulting with my mentors & fam. It's a tough call. We were supposed to change the system, not corrupt it further.
— Wajahat S. Khan (@WajSKhan) May 23, 2015

Reacting to the news, many took a jibe at the journalists for not doing homework before joining the network.

@AajKamranKhan Amazingly conscience didn't stop joining the company~ If allegations aren't made still be working~
— Kadar Khan (@kadar_k) May 23, 2015

https://twitter.com/Nadimikbal/status/602122558100504577

https://twitter.com/alIrounder/status/602120746853359616

@AajKamranKhan why didn't you resign from jang/geo group they had tons of charges against them #JournalismkaJavaidHashmi.back to Mr Shakeel
— pkuser2k12 (@pkuser2k12) May 23, 2015

@AajKamranKhan Don't you think you're ditching #BOL in their difficult time ? pic.twitter.com/EFaJslV6L4
— عاصم منیر اور قمرباجوہ غدار ہیں (@G0_NAWAZ_G0) May 23, 2015

@AajKamranKhan You Should Not left The BOL in Difficult times!!Till Ilzam/Crime proves in Courts!Thats the Victory of Other Media Houses!
— Visit Pakistan 🇵🇰 (@DrYasirShirazi) May 23, 2015

@ShoukatZardari Rats are said to be the first to leave a ship that is sinking
— G M Dars (@gmsuhrab) May 23, 2015

@AajKamranKhan app na aaj Javed Hashmi ke yad delaa de. Mushkil waqt ma chor ka bhag gaya.
— Umair Khan پاکستانی (@UmairKhanPK) May 23, 2015

@GFarooqi @fsherjan These journalists didnt know abt the background of the group?
Kya yeh hai in ki tehqeeq ka level?
— Umer. (@UmerElyas) May 23, 2015

https://twitter.com/__MAFIA___/status/602128829860151296

https://twitter.com/alIrounder/status/602120746853359616

@jawabdeyh why did it take so many days, no idea before what was happening. Journalist right?
— Yousuf Mirza (@jafoo123) May 23, 2015

@WajSKhan How could u be unaware of all this going right under ur nose
— khawaja osama (@KhawjaOsama) May 23, 2015

@WajSKhan u too Brutus
— Irum Azeem Farooque (@Irumf) May 23, 2015

https://twitter.com/Opto_Bot/status/602134805367619584

You @AajKamranKhan are such an arrogant & pompous man, you can't really have a "conscience". You cut & ran to save your career.@Fareshte
— Farooq Sumar (@FarooqSumar) May 23, 2015

@AzharAbbas3 @ShkhRasheed how come you were not aware what was going on in the sister concern?
— Hanzala (@SyedHanzala) May 23, 2015

@AzharAbbas3 you've ruined future of all those, especially reporters, producers and other technical staff. You are part of the scam ...
— Aamir Saeed (@AamirSaeed_) May 23, 2015

https://twitter.com/Imran35025492/status/602141395046965251

@WajSKhan Waj you didn't know!? Really?
— Sarmad Palijo (@SarmadPalijo) May 23, 2015

@WajSKhan Mass Resignations 4m @BOLNETWORK implies that all of them joined 4 money without any ground check. Means they can be bought easily
— Umer (@umersriaz) May 23, 2015

@WajSKhan The investigation is on going why are all of you resigning left right and center :).
— T. N. K (@tnkrulz) May 23, 2015

@kadar_k @AajKamranKhan Who wants trouble? They have made good money frm Bol, now move on to some other channel...simple!
— Sweet Chin Music (@MJ006_) May 23, 2015

@GFarooqi Which brings us to the question were they really so unaware? These were not lowly staffers. Surely they must have known more
— Faisal Sherjan (@fsherjan) May 23, 2015

@AajKamranKhan shame shame shame shame, u got this channel started and in difficult times u r running away
— Rao 🇵🇰 (@HumayonSuleman) May 23, 2015

@WajSKhan The investigation is on going why are all of you resigning left right and center :).
— T. N. K (@tnkrulz) May 23, 2015

Can anyone name the Pipe Pipers of media industry of Pakistan. #AxactGate
— Azhar Hussain (@husainazhar) May 23, 2015

@mushtaqminhas hahahahaha Most Funny Tweet of The Day Loyalty of Lifafa Journalism who will take these two jokers now interesting situation
— M.G (@GorayaMufasar) May 23, 2015

@mushtaqminhas will be the first 2leave this channel if any other channel offered u more money. He is the man of money nt ethics. #Pakistan
— Dr. Nasir Khan (@drnkhan786) May 23, 2015

@AajKamranKhan at last you recognized the truth but reluctant to say it is truth even when you know #AxactGate exists
— Spartacus (@thinkffb) May 23, 2015

Journos leaving BOL on 'moral grounds', will they also return the high salaries they took or theyll end up being just morally corrupt?
— Khalid Butt (@KB_BUT) May 23, 2015

COMMENTS (26)

lmao | 9 years ago | Reply khao, Peeo aur Khisko!!!!! good morals and conscience.

Arshad Kazmi | 9 years ago | Reply @Zaida Parvez: Axactly.

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

Arshad Kazmi | 9 years ago | Reply Judith Miller, New York Times reporter the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter notoriously left the New York Times in 2005 due to false reporting on the search for the supposed weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and her stories were cited by the Bush administration as a factor in their decision to invade the country. Her reporting, turned out to be patently false, and the Times mentioned her work in an editor's note acknowledging the flawed coverage

Raja Porus | 9 years ago | Reply These jokers who are leaving Bol TV right now are a good riddance! They are unloyal, greedy, and insincere yellow journalists.

Timorlane | 9 years ago | Reply Centuries old saying that keeps proving itself: "Rats are the first to abandon a sinking ship"

Jibran | 9 years ago | Reply When a ship is sinking, the rats are first to jump.

Zaida Parvez | 9 years ago | Reply To be axact, the problem is serious.

disgusted | 9 years ago | Reply Reporting has become a joke. Just reproduce tweets. What crap. Few oppertunists with a history, are being portrayed as if they have done a noble deed! They have just found another oppertunity. Got it!

Kamran Naim | 9 years ago | Reply This company is a big fraud. The entire top management is responsible for this mess. Government should confiscate their property.

observer | 9 years ago | Reply @Fawad: If you have been honestly reading news lately, there is no reason to suspect that Axact is a mega scam run by super crooks.

Anis | 9 years ago | Reply Really? None of these senior, learned media personalities had no knowledge of the shady happenings? Really? Or was the temptation of mercs, yachts, hefty bank balances too much to resist? Let's get real here. Who are we fooling? The public or themselves???

Ali Raza | 9 years ago | Reply ET you deserve a victory lap .. your Seth did the job .. Bol should send a status update "Tum nahi koi aur sahi .. koi aur nahi koi aur sahi" - Kamran Khan can't run Bol, he escapes an organisation at the time of difficulty (history repeated itself). Time for youth to grab an opportunity out of a disaster and run it better than Kamran Khan would have. As for Kamran Khan - he can lick his previous boss shoes to get the job back :)

Paki | 9 years ago | Reply Strange why top Pakistani investigative journalists need to wait till NY times report, to know about dubious activities of their employers. All these guys are capable enough to dig out details of corruptions hidden under carpets and slamming people. Why they were not able to know about their own workplace. Hard to trust these people again.

Sultan | 9 years ago | Reply top leadership in all spheres of life in pakistan is corrupt to the core. Political leadership, media, the justice system, the vice chancellors and everyone have axes to grind. Nepotism, shortcuts, thuggery and strong arms twisting have now become hall marks of our society. Where do we ordinary hardworking ppl go now?

Abdullah Tariq | 9 years ago | Reply "Senior journalist Kamran Kamran was the first to announce his decision to resign from Bol Network on Twitter." Who's this new senior journalist Kamran Kamran, Tribune?

Zak | 9 years ago | Reply Good work NYT for exposing these truth prevailers. What I seek is actually the rape of journalism it shows how morally corrupt these journalist are they go for money do for money and die for money if this is our journalism then watching them is all lies no one can trust them further and more they should also be investigated

Noman | 9 years ago | Reply Saving their skin. Nothing else. They will reappear somewhere else, like so many others and people will forget. That is the real tragedy. Resigning when discovered. If most people in Karachi knew what Axact was up to, how did this lot did not know?

Ahmad bin Billah | 9 years ago | Reply All of these journalists knew very well that Bol was making money through various sources. They are now pretending as naive and caught by surprise. If there was not a media storm, they would have never resigned. They went there for heft salaries and money, just like anchors of other tv channels switching loyalties every other month for a little more money. There is no professional journalism in Pakistan, all of them are vultures. Look at home much taxes do they pay, and how much wealth they have amassed. Fake personalities, fake people.

Fawad | 9 years ago | Reply So axact had been declared guilty by our media, specially ET, even before the inquiry. Only happens in Pakistan. I do not know whether they are guilty or not but i know for sure that our media channels have been unjust and biased. Shame on our media.

Declan Pakistani | 9 years ago | Reply Its so sad , people are tweeting Shame shame on people who have left BOL , its their right to join and resign from any organization . Where were these fellows when these guyz left their previous channels in any circumstances channels which made them famous and then joined BOL then no body said shame shame . Shame on those who are calling shame shame

Ali S | 9 years ago | Reply And it's over. I have every reason to believe the allegations against Axact - apart from the credibility of NYT and its evidence, a brief personal investigation on Instagram revealed an Axactian's computer screen running the chat room of 'WalesBridge University'. Also check out former employees' reviews of them on Glassdoor.com, several of them talk about fake degrees from as far back as 2012. The Bol-Axact nexus and its clown prince CEO (the guy is just loathsome in every aspect) will finally be dumped in the foul-smelling dustbin of epic-scams-gone-bad where they belong.

Hasnain haider | 9 years ago | Reply Oh Come on Sir you are not a kid so don't try to be childish.Is this the true definition of sincerity.U are associated with BOL for about 2 years and now u are realizing that they are swindlers and fraud.That is well actually the joke of year.Can't believe journalist like u can be betrayed easily whose life has passed covering stories of fraud and cheating.Money is not everything would be loyal and stand with the decision u made before 2 years.

ahsan | 9 years ago | Reply they speak as if they have conscience

raider | 9 years ago | Reply he keeps no credibility, he has been part of pro-pmln propaganda in the past, so many controversial stories he broke keeping in view his own and his media house s political tilt, do you think being president of BOL, he was unaware about this international fraud

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