News
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Kundi pressurised me to appoint his favourites: FC commandant
* NA committee appreciates FC Peshawar commandant for making recruitment on merit
* Bushra says telephones of parliamentarians are being tapped
By Tanveer Ahmed
ISLAMABAD: It was a startling revelation-studded meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Interior on Tuesday as the disclosures of NA Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi’s attempt to influence high-ups of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) to get recruited his favourites and tapping of phone lines of the parliamentarians stunned the committee’s participants.
The committee meeting, chaired by MNA Abdul Qadir Patel, was taken aback when Peshawar FC Commandant Akbar Khan Hoti dropped a bombshell saying that Kundi, actually, wanted his blue-eyed to be inducted in the FC. The official said he blatantly refused the referrals of Kundi because they were not fit for the force.
The NA deputy speaker had referred as many as nineteen names, the official said, adding that the Frontier Constabulary had a set criteria for recruitments. He further said that all the referrals of the deputy speaker were refused as they did not meet the requirements laid down for recruitments in the FC.
The committee was discussing the issue of illegal appointments made in the FC in Peshawar. The matter was taken up by the committee on the proposal of the NA deputy speaker himself.
“As I didn’t honour his orders”, he took it as impertinence and “raised this issue to take revenge”, the FC official maintained while sounding harsh against Kundi.
Although the committee members appreciated Hoti for upholding the recruitment criteria and making recruitments on merit, the committee chairman advised him to keep his tone low “as the way he accused Kundi has left a bad taste in the meeting”.
Patel also directed to expunge the words used against the deputy speaker from the proceedings of the committee. He said he appreciated the FC’s work against terrorism but flaws were also there. He then mentioned that a number of cases related to the FC had been sent to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Kundi’s alleged influence episode was followed by MNA Bushra Gohar’s revelation that mobile phone lines of the parliamentarians were being tapped. She said it was contrary to Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s statement on the floor of the assembly that “no such thing was in practice”.
Representatives of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Interior Ministry denied that they indulged in such a practice. Upon this, MQM’s MNA Wasim Akhtar questioned “who was involved in such an exercise”.
PTA officials informed the meeting that around 3.5 million SIMs (subscriber identity modules) were not being used by the registered users. They also said that cellphone or telecommunication service provider companies, their franchises and authorised retailers had been fined for violation of the PTA regulations.
Regarding the National Database and Registration Authority (Amendment) Bill 2010, the committee recommended to bring changes in the rules for the use of computerised national identity card (CNIC) photocopies. It proposed that a copy with a signature of the card-holder should only be treated as a valid document.
The committee also took up the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2010, which was introduced by MNA Bushra Gohar seeking registration of a man married to a Pakistani woman as a Pakistani citizen. The Interior Ministry sought time from the committee to come up with its reply, which was granted.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk