KARACHI: Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has refuted he had any differences with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Shahzeb Khanzada, host of Geo News programme, ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’, while quoting this in his analysis, said such indication by the interior minister gave a hint that the matters were not very well if not bad. He said there could not be sadder a story in the prevailing situation as talks of these differences. On the other hand the interior minister had not been attending important meetings and had no interaction with prime minister. Khanzada noted that Chaudhry Nisar, after remaining away from the prime minister him met after three months. In the meeting Chaudhry Nisar very openly defined his reservations after which there were signs that the snow had started melting. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s role in clearing off misunderstandings was not for the first time. His role was always remained important in the situation of handling Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. Analysing the Axact scandal of fake degrees Shahzeb Khanzada said the scope of investigation was expanding with every passing day. The federal interior minister had also sough help from the Interpol, while he was already dealing with the FBI in this regard. The Axact-related Belford University had been fined $22 million for fraud, while the CEO Axact Shoaib Sheikh denied contact or any relations with Belford University. This denial was not based on fact, as every responsibility of the whole matter of Belford University was accepted by a Pakistani, Salim Qureshi. The American lawyers had been questioning Salim Qureshi with reference to Axact. Originally Qureshi kept denying link with Axact, while this refusal had proved baseless. Shahzeb also presented special report of Geo News Bureau, according to which when the Bureau team reached the address given to the American courts, it found the man who had been providing Masters and PhD degrees to the people had himself studied up to class VIII. This startling information about Salim Qureshi was given by his brother as he was not in Karachi. The team was told that Salim Qureshi was a peon in Axact. He has gone to Punjab and would be called whenever there was need for his evidence. Regarding the incident in Daska, Shahzeb Khanzada said violent protests were continuing after the killing of two lawyers in firing by police. He pointed out that it was not for the first time that the police dealt with protestors so brutally. They fired at children demanding opening of their schools, it also fired at blind people. He said the crime committed at Daska and the killing was an irreparable loss. It was not pardonable and could not be compensated. On the other side the reaction of lawyers was condemnable. It was everyone’s right to protest, but a protest that turned lawmakers into lawbreakers was unimaginable. The ransacking and destroying public property by lawyers was unimaginable and an expression of disbelief in the constitution. Babar, a former employee of Axact, also appeared in the programme. He told Khanzada that twenty-two people had appeared in the test when he had joined Axact. Eight out of the 22 had passed the test. Two of them resigned during the training. When he came to floor after completing his training, he felt that morally he would not be able to be tool in whatever was going on there, therefore he resigned. Babar said he was given the responsibility to look after the matters of Belford. He witnessed there no one was studying and people were being given degrees merely on the basis of their CVs. “It was not right that degrees were given without any study but on the basis of money. On this basis I tendered my resignation.” Axact employee Babar said that shadow training was provided before assigning any employee a university. “We had to undergo training by an experienced person.” Babar said the only business there was selling degrees. On the floor there used to be 500 people sitting at a time. Babar said the financial position of the to-be-degree holder client was assessed before selling the degree to him. The agent of the Axact used to ask what experiences he had in life on the basis of which he was intending to join the course. The client was asked about his experiences in life and was told that it would be treated as his credit hours and on the basis of bio-data the degrees were awarded as per credit hours. Babar said there were a couple of calls in which the client was told that credit hours of his experience entitled him to a diploma. The client was told to buy a diploma at present and later, after transferring his credit hours he would be entitled to be bachelor and then could buy a bachelors degree. Many clients appeared satisfied with the suggestions. The client was then told that his standard GP had been set. This GP could be increased on payment of some charges. Thus the GP would be increased after payment of charges. Replying to a question Babar said there were many others when he joined Axact and all of them knew what was going on there and what they were doing. “We were told in the beginning of our training that we are running universities. We were given the responsibility of a university each after our training. Our manager had told us that we would have to sell maximum number of degrees,” he said. Giving details of the system of payment for degrees, he said that they used to obtain details of the client’s credit card. These details were forwarded to another department on the same floor. They were not from the Belford University but from particular payment security company. They would confirm from the client on phone, informing them that Belford University had sent payment on their behalf and they wanted to reconfirm from him how much payment he had made. India, while engaging Pakistan on the borders, was assisting terrorists in Fata and the tribal areas, the statement of the Indian defence minister proved this fact. Defence Minister of Pakistan Khwaja Muhammad Asif said this in the Geo News programme, responding to Khanzada’s question. The TTP was fighting in Pakistan for India, while Taliban were proxy of India and were at war with Pakistan Army, the minister said adding that the army was dealing with the Taliban in the same manner as any army should deal with the enemy forces or their proxies. There was close coordination of the Indian intelligence network and the terrorists in Pakistan. India was backing the separatists in Balochistan, the evidence of this fact had already been brought to fore. “It is a fact that the Balochistan’s separatists are a headache for us and efforts are being made to mend the fences,” he said.
