Former special assistant to the prime minister on information and broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan was refused government-owned residence in Multan for an overnight stay, a local news outlet reported on Sunday. She was earlier removed from her office amid corruption allegations.
The security officer at Multan residence denied to give room to Firdos Sahiba for a stayover.
She introduced herself as "ex Advisor " but guard didnt let her in.Former PM aide Firdous Ashiq Awan turned away from govt residence in Multanhttps://t.co/vNyYN79Hml
— Nabya Shahid (@nabyashahid) May 10, 2020
Reportedly, the former SAPM travelled to Multan from Karachi in a car and was accompanied by friends and a maid. However, upon arrival at a government-owned circuit house in Multan, she was refused entry by the night guard who said that she was not a public office holder anymore. Firdous asked the guard for a sehri meal but was refused again and she had to send her driver to the market to purchase a meal.
The former SAPM exchanged hot words with the lower staff of the government residence and tried to get in touch with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) District President Khalid Javed Warraich and Deputy Commissioner Amir Khattak, but their phones were switched off.
Read More: PEMRA does not allow airtime for convicts: Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan
The news outlet reported that when the caretaker of the official residence was contacted, he said that there was no advance booking and the lower staff did not have the authority to allot a room to someone not holding a public office. He added that when he reached circuit house in the morning on Sunday, Firdous had already left for Lahore.
Dr Awan’s removal
Dr Awan was unceremoniously removed from the office after she reportedly refused to resign. She had denied the allegations of corruption and misuse of power during her time as the PM’s aide. Speaking to a local news outlet, she had said that how could she take 10 per cent commission while giving advertisements when no such advertisements were given to the media during her tenure. She had said that the files related to her ministry were never shown to her, but rather they were taken to Prime Minister Imran Khan directly by the secretary for six months.
“A case pertaining to an advertisement company who I supposedly gave money to, they got through to me after six months of trying even then they remain unpaid,” she had claimed.
Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Sunday challenged anchorperson Hamid Mir to prove the allegations of corruption and misuse of power against her.
Read More: Who is behind Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan’s removal?
Taking to Twitter, she challenged the senior journalist to prove that she had misused her power while approving appointments in Press Information Department (PID). “Hamid Mir sahib, your journalism experience is more than my political experience. Do not leave this matter here. Show me the domicile of my constituency among the appointments I did in PID. If you cannot do this, then you have to admit that Maulana Tariq Jameel was telling the truth. Sach jaan kar geo [know the truth and live],” she tweeted.
@HamidMirPAK
حامد میر صاحب، میری سیاست سے زیادہ آپ کی صحافت کا تجربہ ہے۔ اس بات کو یہاں تک نہ چھوڑیئے گا، میرے حکم سے کی گئی پی آئی ڈی کی بھرتیوں میں میرے حلقے کا ڈومیسائل دکھائیں۔ اگر ایسا نہ کر سکیں تو ماننا پڑے گا کہ مولانا طارق جمیل صاحب سچ فرما رہے تھے۔ سچ جان کر جیو— Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan (@Dr_FirdousAwan) May 3, 2020
She also said that during her tenure there were multiple pseudo-information ministers and were doing the job for her and may have hindered her progress at a few instances or confused the narrative she wanted to present as a government representative.
Sources close to the prime minister office told GVS that some ministers and spokespersons have disputes with Azam Khan, Principal Secretary to PM. Ms.Awan also was not comfortable being dictated by the secretary who was reportedly looking over her work.
The Principal Secretary to PM has recently been in the eye of the storm. Jahangir Khan Tareen (JKT) acknowledged that he has a long-running conflict with Azam Khan, PM Imran’s principal secretary. “When we came into power, I had a different vision on how to govern the country. He (Azam Khan) has a different one. I had told Azam Khan that the government’s job was not to enact incremental change but to transform the entire country,” Tareen said.