Articles of the year 2010
div id="entire_articles_section"> The Fake Degree SpilloverPublished on July 10th, 2010
The issue of the fake degrees is building into a storm, that threatens to take many lawmakers victim, and may even bring down the Government. The threat to the Government will be in the form of over reaction by the PPP fanatics, who have issued statements that even the Quaid Azam did not have a degree. This ridiculous comparison has brought the most respected Pakistani in our History, who created our Nation, into a slanging match between the most corrupt lawmakers and their cohorts against a judiciary that is attempting to invoke the laws of the land.
How dare Ms Ispahani cast aspersions on the credentials of our beloved Jinnah. She should realize how uncomfortable her illustrious ancestor must be feeling in his grave at the treatment meted out to the Quaid by his descendant. He was the founder of Pakistan, and must be wondering at how these Green Card holders/ US passport holders, having surrendered their birthrights, to a foreign flag, can have the audacity to involve him in such a base and banal analogy. Particularly galling is the collection of scoundrels on whose behalf her arguments are being offered. The people of Pakistan are owed an apology by Ms Ispahani who has managed to hurt many of us who wake up daily, grateful to Jinnah, for having given us freedom from the Hindu dominance. While our lawmakers who are now being exposed ,daily, as having used fraudulent documents, including false income statements, when their nominations were filed.
It is the Election Commission that should tried first for not doing their duty and not prosecuting the candidates at the time of filing bogus nominations. Before the mantle of power was assumed. The next step should have been the criminal sentence of three years for misdeclaration as stipulated under the law. This should have been done before the election, so that the electorate could decide on his record, and of course would never vote for a candidate that had a criminal record. The disqualifications are amply covered in the Constitution.
Pakistan does not need to notice how many of our lawmakers have circumvented the law to become legislators, we need to remove the crooked ones. How can we trust them to formulate laws when so many are in fact lawbreakers themselves and will no doubt continue in breaking the law. She should instead follow the path of her fellow party member, Abida Husain who stayed out of the Assembly, for want of a degree, then went on and earned a degree at the golden age of 58. It was also conducted in a public examination hall , amongst students younger than her children. And those of us who scoffed at the time are now holding her up as an example. Whereas the Dastis of this country are still looking at a dispensation from the Prime Minister, which will soon be found unacceptable, and he may have to face further charges. In fact the Prime Minister may have to face prosecution for illegal canvassing. Mr Prime Minister your position does not carry immunity from prosecution, so it might be wiser to follow the law very carefully from now on.
The furor over the degrees is building up, and the very laws that have been framed by illegal members may have all those bills declared void in abnitio, as with the infamous NRO.
The sycophants had managed to convince the PPP leaders that this could be the moment for a show of strength, accordingly a rally of ten thousand was planned to display solidarity on the Constitution. At the last moment the rally was cancelled as the leadership was informed that with such a large gathering of PPP members, the anger against the policies of the leadership would erupt into a major declaration against the incumbents. This could put paid to any and all the populist claims of the leaders. The question of degrees would be accompanied by the question of the Will, whose genuineness has been rumored but never seriously challenged. The mother of all Pandora's boxes is about to be opened, and with the very thin veneer of support --- a handful perhaps, and a huge number against. It could be a difficult position to be caught in, and it will also dissipate the foreign support that has been restless for the last six months.