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Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Naya Pakistan: social media demands resignation of Zartaj Gul for violation of merit

Recently a letter surfaced where a Pakistani Minister was asking officials to give favor to her sister in terms of appointment. Social media sparked up with criticism asking for her to step down from the post. Zartaj, the climate minister seems to be still defending her sister.

News Desk |

In the latest development, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had to face severe public backlash when it was disclosed that Shabam Gul, the elder sister of Zartaj Gul, Minister of State for Climate Change, has been appointed as Director of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA). According to details Shabnam Gul is a Ph.D. scholar and currently working as an assistant professor at the Lahore College for Women University (LCWU). Local media alleged that Zartaj Gul misused her office to get her sister appointed. However, both the minister and NACTA immediately issued a clarification that nobody played any role in the appointment of the director.

Zartaj Gul also defended her sister’s appointment in another tweet.

But the matter became complicated when an official letter was shared on social media which suggested that Zartaj Gul not only spoke to the concerned department for the appointment of her sister but also issued formal instructions in this regard.

After social media protested and demanded the resignation of Zartaj Gul, Prime Minister Imran Khan took the notice and directed her to withdraw the letter. Naeem ul Haque, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan, tweeted that “The PM has directed that Zartaj Gul shud withdraw her letter written to NACTA regarding the appointment of her sister. This was against the ethics of PTI which has always opposed nepotism. No one in the PTI govt is can promote their relatives/friends by using their positions.”

A notification also confirmed that Shabnam Gul has not completed her PhD even after 9 years. She was enrolled as PhD candidate back in 2010.

But social media did not stop here. People demanded the resignation of the Minister of State and also to withdraw the notification of her sister’s appointment. On a technical point, Salman Masood point out that “Zartaj Gul can’t and won’t withdraw the letter to NACTA as she never addressed NACTA; she wrote the letter to Interior Secretary. Well played, Naeem Sb!”

Later on, the letter was withdrawn

People kept on saying that we voted for change, not for nepotism. “We gave vote to Imran Khan to shut down this nepotism culture but still his ministers learnt nothing from him. Imran should punish her and set example for others as well. PTI leadership should keep in mind that we are not dumb who will support your illegal actions,” said a Twitter user.

A social media user shared the CV of Shabnam Gul who has neither completed PhD nor got published any article in the relevant filed.

Moreover, Shabnam Gul allegedly plagiarized a thesis back in 2007 when she was a student in department of Kashmir studies. According to details,  Saeed Asad, social welfare officer in the social welfare and women development department, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, that two researchers, Shabnam Gul and Andleeb Sabra of the Department of Kashmir Studies, University Oriental College, had allegedly plagiarized from his MA in Kashmiryat thesis titled, “K. H. Khursheed, life and services” and from his research paper “Political parties of Kashmir” in their joint plagiarised book titled: “Tarikh-i-Kashmir-1947 to date” published by Farooq Sons, Lahore, in 2006. After the allegations were proven against both students, the PU administration immediately disqualified both the researchers for any teaching job in future in the Punjab University. It also canceled the studentship of Shabnam Gul for M.Phil in Kashmiryat with immediate effect.

Read more: Accountability for all: Aleem Khan sent to jail

Zartaj Gul is yet to give her take after it has been proven that she wrote a letter and sent her sister’s resume besides speaking on phone with the concerned person.