ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: The committee supervising the process of verification of lawmakers’ academic degrees has asked six legislators accused of holding fake or invalid degrees to appear before it on Monday. Those issued notices by the committee headed by Election Commission’s spokesman Mohammad Afzal Khan include Mir Humayun Aziz Kurd, one of the two federal ministers so far found by Higher Education Commission (HEC) to be holding invalid degrees.
Mr Kurd had obtained his BBA degree from Irish International University. The university is not recognised by the HEC and its own honorary chancellor had described the episode as “dodgy” to a BBC undercover reporter.
Syed Akhundzada Chittan is the only other member of the National Assembly to have been summoned by the committee. The PPP legislator from Fata is accused of possessing a fake degree purportedly issued by University of Peshawar.
Three of the four members of the Punjab assembly on notice are from Pakistan Muslim League-N. They are Nasim Nasir Khwaja, Syeda Majida Zaidi and Zulfikar Ali. Safina Saima Khar of PPP is also on notice. The Higher Education Commission has so far found that around 60 lawmakers are holding fake or invalid degrees.
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