Out with the fake

With reference to ongoing news and discussion regarding the termination of fake degree-holders from our national flag carrier – PIA – I feel that it is a fantastic step taken by the management of PIA. This once excellent organisation of the country has already suffered heavily due to corruption and nepotism for many years and this (apparently) small step of firing fake degree-holders will be a quantum leap towards bringing PIA back to the same standards which we had witnessed in the past. Moreover, the airline industry is now internationally a very high-tech industry in which the staff (including) pilots should achieve a minimum educational standard to carry out their work efficiently. PIA was no ordinary organisation. I believe that it was the only airline in the history of the world which remained among the top five airlines of the world for more than a decade. There will indeed be a pressure on the government as well as on PIA’s top management to take a lenient view of this mistake. But I suggest that they should stay firm on this decision as it will also set an example for other public-sector/government organisations to scrub off such culprits from their ranks. The culprits knowingly did something wrong in the first place by providing fake degrees and they should be now punished for it.

M Asif

Karachi