UK newspaper claims Reham’s degree is fake

Reham claimed in her CV that she got a diploma in Broadcast Journalism from North Lindsey College, which says it neither offers any such diploma nor has it ever registered Reham as student; Mushahidullah says fake degree will bring fake revolution; Reham rejects report as part of malicious move against her
LONDON: British newspaper the Daily Mail on Wednesday raised questions over former BBC broadcast journalist and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s wife Reham Khan’s degree.
Reham Khan claimed to have studied broadcast journalism at the North Lindsey College after which she landed a job at the BBC. However, the college officials have denied having any student with her name on the records of the institution.
The college authorities said that they do not offer any such course as they do not teach journalism in the first place. The newspaper had broken the news about Imran Khan’s marriage to Reham days before the couple officially made an announcement. In the light of the earlier revelation that turned out to be true, the question over her degree gained some credibility.
Reporter Sebastian Shakespeare said when he disclosed in January that cricket legend Imran Khan had secretly married former BBC presenter Reham Khan, his ex-wife Jemima Goldsmith seemed less than thrilled and publicly thanked Pakistanis who contacted her to say she remained their favourite “first lady”.
In his story in the Daily Mail, he said questions are now starting to be asked about the CV of TV journalist Reham, 42, who left Britain for Pakistan two years ago. Reham’s personal website states that she won her post as a reporter on the BBC regional show South Today after starting a postgraduate course ‘in Broadcast Journalism at North Lindsay College’, in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.
However, according to officials at North Lindsey, it has never offered such a course. Indeed, it does not teach journalism at all. Furthermore, they can find no record of anyone bearing Khan’s name or age ever having enrolled.
“We do not have anyone by those names or date of birth having attended this college,” says a spokesman. “We have never done a degree in broadcast journalism.”Earlier this year, she claimed in an interview with a Pakistani journalist that she was a victim of domestic violence during her first marriage to 54-year-old NHS psychiatrist Dr Ijaz Rehman.
However, this was angrily denied by the doctor, who rejected these allegations strongly. “I have never lifted hands on anyone. Domestic violence is a very serious offence. I work in a very senior position in the NHS and if I was convicted or charged or found involved in domestic violence, in any sense, I wouldn’t have been able to practice,” Dr Rehman had said rejecting Reham’s allegations.
Reacting to the development, the senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), Mushahidullah Khan, said that only a real degree can bring a real revolution while fake degree can only bring a fake revolution.
“Reham said she does not read Daily Mail. The whole world reads Daily Mail but it’s difficult for her to read the truth,” Khan said while taunting Reham Khan.He said that the allegations will not be proved untrue by saying that she does not watch the TV channels. Khan said that if her degree is fake then she is already disqualified from contesting elections.
Meanwhile, Reham took a U-turn on the name of her institution from where she completed her degree after the story of Daily Mail. The name of institution which previously was North Lindsay college is now changed to Grimsby Institute.
Reham also deleted her old tweet which said that she studied broadcast journalism from North Lindsay College.Earlier, Reham criticised Pakistan TV channels and said that this is the reason why she does not watch them. She also said that she does not read Daily Mail because of such stories.
PTI chief Imran Khan defended his wife saying Reham’s degree is legitimate and that the question has been raised over her postgraduate diploma. Talking to a private television channel, Khan said the questioning of the diploma would be valid only if Reham had used it to secure a job.
PTI chief said if Reham’s degree was forged then she would have been fired by her former employer British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). — Agencies
Our correspondent adds: Reham Khan categorically denied what she called the baseless allegations on her academic qualifications by a UK-based newspaper.In a statement issued amid speculations and insinuations about her academic credentials, she termed the British daily’s report is not based on facts and lacking reporting legwork.
The report and ‘follow-ups’ pour in at a time when PTI’s MNA from Swat, Murad Saeed, is yet to get a clearance regarding his graduation degree, as the matter is pending with Peshawar High Court for the last several months.
Reham said she had never claimed to have a degree in broadcast journalism as she had a completed diploma in broadcast media that she obtained from the Grimsby Institute media Centre.
“There should be no need to clarify. However, I need to put the issue at rest. I categorically state that after completing my BA, I undertook a one-year postgraduate course for a diploma in broadcast media at Grimsby Institute Media Centre (code 0506 BC 34), that ended on June 23, 2006,” she claimed.
Imran’s spouse noted that she received this after acquiring a graduation degree from Jinnah College for Women of Peshawar University. She termed the report by the British daily as malicious and baseless and said that the timing of the attack on educational qualifications was highly suspicious as the country was currently looking towards UK authorities in another high profile case, which was far more serious than the national media discussing her educational qualifications.
Reham contended that the media should not get diverted by these ‘smoke screens’ and should focus on matters that could help move towards the goal of ‘naya Pakistan’. She said such attacks were only aimed at detracting the masses from the ‘real’ issues and that no such attacks could stop her from raising her voice on social issues.