Appointment of Fazl’s brother as DC in Karachi invites criticism from PTI

KARACHI: Ziaur Rehman, a Grade-19 PMS officer and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s brother, has been appointed as Deputy Commissioner for the metropolis' Central district, according to a notification issued Friday.

Soon after the news of his appointment broke, leaderships of the ruling PTI and Karachi-based MQM-P criticised the government of Sindh, as well as Fazl, terming the move a ”tactic” to make the All Parties Conference (APC) successful.

Rehman had been transferred from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and was “posted with immediate effect and until further orders as Collector / Deputy Commissioner, Central, Karachi, vice Mr. Farhan Ghani Khan, an officer of Ex-PCS (85-19),” a notification issued Thursday read.

Ghani, on the other hand, was transferred and appointed as Additional Secretary, Local Government, and Housing Town Planning Department, the notification read.

It is pertinent to mention here that his appointment has been made in one of the most important districts of Pakistan's port city.

Reacting to the appointment, Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, Ali Amin Gandapur, said Rehman was appointed against merit and without passing the required examination.

Senior MQM-P leader Khawaja Izharul Hasan said they reject the appointment of an officer from KP in Karachi. “More than 100,000 jobs were given on fake domiciles. The DC is appointed without the Federal Government’s notification.”

”Under which law has he been brought into civil services,” he asked, adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan was running the Assembly without "diesel".

Moreover, PTI Karachi’s secretary-general Saeed Afridi remarked that the government of Sindh was in need of ”diesel” for their expenses.

Afridi said he believed that the appointment was done in a bid to make the Opposition's All Parties Conference (APC) a success.

”The Opposition, after House No. 22 and the Kashmir ministry, has found new ways to appease Maulana Fazl,” he said.

Afridi said people understood well the provincial government's tactics.

The PTI leader expressed fears that the newly-appointed DC might make things worst for the district as it was the biggest in terms of population.

'Not a crime' to be Fazl’s brother

Responding to the criticism, Sindh Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah said it was ”not a crime to be Maulana Fazl’s brother”.

”Ziaur Rehman has held administrative positions in KP," he said, adding that the appointment was an administrative matter.

'Dual nationals' in Cabinet

Responding to the criticism, JUI-F Senator Maulana Hafiz Hamdullah also termed Rehman's appointment "an administrative matter".

"What is so strange about Ziaur Rehman being posted as a DC in Karachi? Why are they so bothered about Ziaur Rehman's appointment? Is it Ziaur Rehman's fault that he is Maulana Fazlur Rehman's brother?

"Ziaur Rehman has previously held administrative positions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab," Hamdullah said, adding that he could be posted anywhere in Pakistan's four provinces.

The JUI-F leader further spoke on the incumbent PTI-led government's advisers and special assistants, noting how "half of them" were "dual nationals".

"While dual nationals can sit in the cabinet, Ziaur Rehman is a Pakistani citizen," he said.

Gandapur 'honey' case

Hamdullah also lashed out at Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur, demanding he tell people about "the current status of occupied Kashmir".

"Ali Amin Gandapur should tell me what has happened to the Gandapur 'honey' case?"

The JUI-F leader was referring to a 2016 case when the PTI leader, then the revenue and estate minister for KP, was booked for "illegal possession of weapons and liquor".

Gandapur, however, had said at the time that weapons were not illegal and that the "liquor bottle had honey in it".