On the instructions of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Minister of State for Climate Change and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Zartaj Gul on Sunday withdrew a letter she had written to the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) pertaining to her sister’s appointment as the department’s director, after it generated a debate about the government’s meritocracy.
Zartaj Gul claimed that the letter issued to the NACTA was merely a notification and was not written to influence the institute. She claimed that the aim of her letter was to tell the authorities that the curriculum vitae (CV) of her sister had reached the authority’s office.
Earlier, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Naeemul Haque tweeted that the premier had directed Zartaj Gul to withdraw a letter she wrote to Interior Secretary Major (r) Azam Suleman Khan regarding her sister’s appointment as NACTA director.
“This was against the ethics of the PTI, which has always opposed nepotism. No one in the PTI government can promote their relatives/friends by using their positions,” Haque said. He appeared to be referring to a letter dated February 27, 2019, written by an individual in Zartaj’s office to NACTA, which cited a telephonic conversation regarding Shabnam Gul’s appointment in NACTA. According to reports, Zartaj Gul had telephoned Azam Suleman Khan for her sister’s appointment and subsequently wrote a letter to him. After the interior secretary received the letter, the NACTA was ordered to follow rules and policies according to the law.
A copy of the letter is circulating on the social media. A statement issued by a NACTA spokesperson said that Zartaj Gul did not write any letter, and the letter attributed to her, which was being discussed in the media, was written by Zartaj Gul’s Principal Staff Officer Samiul Haq.
Shabnam Gul, a Grade-18 officer, was serving as assistant professor at the International Relations Department of the Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) and was appointed as director (Grade-19) in NACTA, Islamabad, on deputation for three years.
LCWU Vice Chancellor Dr Farkhanda Manzoor confirmed to a private news channel that NACTA had requisitioned that the services of Shabnam Gul be placed at its disposal.
According to a NACTA notification, “The services of Ms Shabnam Gul, assistant professor, LCWU, are required for her posting against an available vacant post of director (BS-19) in NACTA in Islamabad on a deputation basis.”
The appointment drew ire on the social media after it emerged that Shabnam and another researcher had been disqualified from future teaching jobs in the varsity by the Punjab University in 2007, according to reports.
The complaint against the state minister’s sister was that she and another researcher of the Department of Kashmir Studies at the University Oriental College had allegedly plagiarised from a master’s degree thesis and research paper on Kashmiriyat and political parties of Kashmir by KH Khursheed. In 2006, they had reportedly published a plagiarised book titled Tereekh-e-Kashmir: 1947 to date.
An April 2 notification issued by the LCWU also made the rounds on social media on Sunday.
The notification refers to a meeting that took place on March 6, in which the Advance Studies and Research Board had decided to allow Shabnam Gul and two others to continue their PhD research work and complete their theses at the university’s Political Science Department. “It is hereby notified that the revised titles of these synopses [of the theses] after re-registration presented by the following students of the Political Science Department are approved and they are allowed to continue their research work for the PhD degree under the supervision of respective supervisors.”
According to a copy of Shabnam Gul’s CV, she is “currently working on the process of submitting final thesis for internal and external evaluation” for her PhD in political science. The topic of research is “War Against Terrorism: A case study of Pakistan 2001-2013”. As per the sources, the Interior Ministry was of the view that it was the duty of the NACTA to verify her PhD. Sources further informed the media that Shabnam took admission in a university to pursue PhD in political science, and even after a period of nine years, she had not yet completed her degree.
State Minister Zartaj Gul took to Twitter late on Saturday night to tweet NACTA’s notification regarding the matter. Describing it as a “comprehensive clarification”, Zartaj claimed it “blew away the nonsense being peddled in a section of the local media regarding supposed breach of merit”. “One cannot disenfranchise a deserving candidate just because they happen to be related to a government minister,” she said. The NACTA in its notification had explained that it had “followed 100 percent merit and due process” in the requisitioning of the services of Shabnam Gul. “NACTA received a total of 12 requests from employees of different federal and provincial government departments working in BS17-19 for posting in NACTA on deputation basis,” a notification issued by the body on June 1 said. “A three-member committee was constituted to interview these applicants and shortlist the suitable officers,” it said. “Interviews were conducted on May 14, 2019, and the committee recommended six of the 12 candidates for sending their cases to the Establishment Division for further processing,” the notification added. It said that Shabnam Gul was one of the selected candidates recommended on the basis of merit by the committee as she “is a PhD scholar with several papers on counter-extremism and terrorism, and [was] found appropriate and relevant for the research wing”.
