Minister uses his clout for son, and says so

Abdur Razzak Thahim deprives deserving officer of posting

Friday, December 12, 2008
By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: A minister in the Gilani cabinet, also a retired judge, has admitted that he used his influence on the prime minister to keep his son posted to Abu Dhabi and the prime minister obliged him, denying the right of the officer who deserved it, not once but twice in his career.

Minister Abdur Razzak Thahim, when approached, did not conceal anything and admitted he had met the prime minister more than once to seek extension for his son posted to Abu Dhabi purely on humanitarian grounds.

Thahim said his grandson, the son of Shahzad Thahim, had gone through a kidney transplantation process and it was for the sake of the post-surgery treatment that the six-year-old boy needed to be there to fully recover.

Thahim said he had already lost a grandson, who was also suffering from the same disease. Sounding sad, Thahim said he also met the prime minister just four days ago and pleaded for an extension for his son.

The man who should have been posted to Abu Dhabi, Dr Mohammed Usman Chachar, instead received the prime minister's directive vide No.1-20/2008- CWAs by the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis, Islamabad, dated Nov 24, 2008 whereby his posting as Community Welfare Attache at Abu Dhabi was held in abeyance till further orders.

Experts said if the prime minister wanted to oblige his minister, he should have allowed funds for the treatment of his grandson anywhere in the world, instead of using the official route of hurting another officer's career.

Thahim also feels guilty about this injustice but would not give in and has proposed a solution, again at the cost of taxpayers. He told The News he had requested for the creation of an additional post of CWA in Abu Dhabi so that Dr Chachar could also be posted there.

This suggestion would be in violation of all the rules and rightly so the Finance Ministry has rejected it out of hand. Thahim said Dr Chachar was the nominee of Syed Khurshid Shah, the Federal Minister for Labour and Manpower. "I also discussed the matter with Khurshid Shah, who proposed the creation of additional post of CWA at Abu Dhabi," the minister said, adding that the Finance Ministry did not agree to it.

Now, he said, he had recommended to the prime minister that the Finance Ministry's decision be overruled so that justice could be done in both cases. Thahim categorically said he had pursued his son's case purely on humanitarian ground.

The prime minister's directive did not give any explanation for his decision but the fact remained that the officer who was being replaced in Abu Dhabi was Shahzad Thahim.His father, now Federal Minister for Local Government, Justice (retd) Abdul Razak Thahim, was also a federal minister during the Musharraf regime.

However, the aggrieved officer, while showing extraordinary courage, approached the prime minister and pointed his finger at the federal minister for depriving him of his right. Dr Chachar is presently serving as Additional Secretary to Sindh chief secretary.

He sought justice from the prime minister as he had completed all formalities and processes for his posting abroad. He requested Gilani to either withdraw the orders of holding in abeyance his posting process or post him against any other vacant post of the CWA or that of commercial attache.

In 2005 also, according to a source, Dr Chachar was selected (on merit) for the same post but at that time Razzak Thahim got his name replaced with that of Shahzad Thahim. However, Justice (retd) Thahim said he did not ask anyone about the appointment of his son as the CWA in Abu Dhabi in 2005.

I Know Mr Dr. Usman Chacher very well he is really a nice guy and even more than qualified than any one. So my Question related to it is why the hell he is not been posted to Abu Dhabi. Since he is already been prepared for it and was just waiting for visa to come. He was fully prepared and i have been seeing this story since such a long time & i am also an eye witness of it.

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