After Riaz, the axe falls on Shireen Mazari
May 15, 2008
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has terminated the services of Director-General, Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), and leading columnist of daily The News, Dr Shireen Mazari with immediate effect.
Dr Mazari, an internationally renowned academic, has been sacked by the PPP government at a time when her contract was still valid till August 2009. The sacking of the ISSP director-general comes on the heels of another distinguished bureaucrat -- former foreign secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan -- who was also removed.
It was the new foreign secretary, Salman Bashir, who on Wednesday convey the "new policy" to yet another sacked bureaucrat by telephone. Mazari told The News that it was gracious of Bashir to break the news to her though the official notification has still not reached her.
"It was kind of him to inform me that a decision had been made by the authorities and he was just letting me know," she remarked. "I will also not comment on the matter as it is still too early. Let a formal announcement be made," former foreign minister Inamul Haq, who is also Chairperson of the ISSI, told The News.
It is being expected that former foreign secretary Dr Tanvir Ahmed Khan, who had to leave the ISSI in 2000, would replace Mazari. Hussain Haqqani also telephoned Mazari to tell her that the government was not sacking her but rather replacing her.
Dr Mazari, an internationally renowned academic, has been sacked by the PPP government at a time when her contract was still valid till August 2009. The sacking of the ISSP director-general comes on the heels of another distinguished bureaucrat -- former foreign secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan -- who was also removed.
It was the new foreign secretary, Salman Bashir, who on Wednesday convey the "new policy" to yet another sacked bureaucrat by telephone. Mazari told The News that it was gracious of Bashir to break the news to her though the official notification has still not reached her.
"It was kind of him to inform me that a decision had been made by the authorities and he was just letting me know," she remarked. "I will also not comment on the matter as it is still too early. Let a formal announcement be made," former foreign minister Inamul Haq, who is also Chairperson of the ISSI, told The News.
It is being expected that former foreign secretary Dr Tanvir Ahmed Khan, who had to leave the ISSI in 2000, would replace Mazari. Hussain Haqqani also telephoned Mazari to tell her that the government was not sacking her but rather replacing her.
