Adil Najam
The Lahore High Court has declared Mudassir Qayyum Nahira, a PML-N member of the national assembly, disqualified because he holds a fake degree. Elected form NA-100 Gujranwalla. The idea that those holding fake degrees should be disqualified – not just for the ‘fakeness’ of their education but also for the sheer act of lying and making a fool of the very people they are supposed to be representing – is a good one.
It is something that we at ATP have written about before and we feel fairly strongly about. I for one welcome the decision by the National Assembly that the Higher Education Commission (HEC) should verify the degrees of all 873 parliamentarians. That should be a normal and continual function of the HEC. I am also glad that this issue has been gaining such momentum.
Having said that – and having established that if Mr. Nahira’s degree is fake then he should be disqualified – the few details of the story that we know (and we really know very few) do seem to suggest that this may be more a case of catching a technicality because an opponent pushed for it rather than a real case of the honorable court being annoyed and incensed at an act of cheating and lying. Even so, it is good that the issue is highlighted. But not enough.
It seems that Mr. Nahira actually has a degree – from the University of Bahawalpur – but he obtained it while he was under suspension from the Punjab University and without obtaining a ‘no objection certificate’ (NOC) from the Punjab University. I do not know why he ha been suspended from the Punjab University (and would really like to know). But I am glad that he did actually complete the education in Bahawalpur. Because education is always a good thing; even when done half-heartedly.
So, I will wait for more details on this case, I applaud the court for going after the issue, but we need to go beyond the technicalities to the even bigger issue remains of those who blatantly lie about being what they are not and buying fake degrees without obtaining any education at all. Indeed, the biggest issue of all is creating a polity where lying to citizens in any dimension is not tolerated.
We’ve been working on compiling a comprehensive list of all politicians (past and present) with fake degrees. The results can be seen at http://fakedegrees.zzl.org. Comments are welcome
Do you have any idea that a fake degree can open such doors that a genuine degree can only dream of? Yes, it can land you in the august houses of National Assembly, Senate and federal and provincial cabinet. You can approve budgets, make laws and policies that a genuine degree holder can not think of. For details, please read: http://fmeducation.wordpress.com/2010/07/05/what-i s-the-worth-of-your-fake-degree/