Fake is our cake so take
In News of today Fri 7th December, 2012 I found the name of six PIA pilots possessing fake matriculation and intermediate certificates and therefore I am obliged to pen my candid opinion about the same.
As a matter of fact we are living in such a typical country which though officially named as Islamic Republic of Pakistan but where fake is too common and one can find fake in different persons, colors, shapes and nomenclatures at each and every place at anytime and anywhere which as such even creates doubts in our minds about what is genuine and not fake. Gone are the days when fake was a matter of shame rather utter shame in my beloved Pakistan but then very much regretfully as the time passed on we gradually started slipping away from truth and tilting towards lies and now we have reached to the level that at least in first instance most of us think that whatever is being seen or read is nothing but fake. In Pakistan, fake is so much deep rooted that now each and every thing howsoever popular and nice looking it may be is believed to be fake which is too much to be honest if one realizes it. On the top of it we have even fake people which are still more alarming than the former fake which relates to things and not human beings.
The news that 6 PIA pilots have been found to have deposited fake educational certificates with PIA administration is more shameful than criminal and the worst part is that they did not even pass matriculation which is nothing but 10 years basic schooling and joined PIA submitting fake certificates. What can you expect from such a person who has no capacity and ability to even pass school what to talk of higher education? Now when it has been found that they have submitted fake certificates they are not just to be terminated from employment as it has been reported rather they must be prosecuted on criminal charges because it is certainly a crime which must be taken into account and not ignored whatsoever. One must realize that had they not obtained fake Matriculation certificate and submitted the same to PIA then they had not even been employed by the airline. Moreover in Pakistan even for an ordinary post of peon which the least on the rung excluding sweeper the applicant is to be minimum Matriculate so from this point of view which is a hard fact and not otherwise that the so called PIA pilots had not been employed as a peon since they lacked academically. What grave situation that one who couldn’t qualify to be even as a tea boy could be employed as high as a pilot and flown all over the globe. At times they have even piloted the planes of our VVIPs. Under the given situation they must be asked to pay back some 90% of whatever near to it which has been earned by them from PIA on the basis of submitting their fake school certificates simply because they were not eligible to be even a peon or tea boy in PIA what to talk of working as high as pilot. Let me be blunt for those who did not understand as to how and why I said for repayment. We as Muslims do ‘wazoo’ before offering namaaz because it is pre-requisite but if someone doesn’t perform wazoo and offer prayer then he is earning azaab and not sawaab simply because since he didn’t meet the pre requisite and likewise in this case PIA pilots did not fulfill basic qualification to be eligible to apply for employment as a pilot.
Does anyone know as to how many members of our legislative assemblies have been disqualified by our Supreme Court of Pakistan and Election Commission of Pakistan till now in the recent weeks because they had submitted fake degrees? The hard truth is that many of our earlier Senators, MNAs, MPAs who did not possess any bachelor degree had honorably enjoyed their time in earlier set ups simply because then there was no law at that point if time which obliged that they must have bachelor degree to be a Senator or PNA or MPA and now when the new rule has come, they must be thanking Allah to save their faces otherwise they too had had been not only defaced but removed from legislative assembly and faced the same music what others are facing now. However, then came a law which made it obligatory that anyone wishing to be MPA or MNA or Senator must have minimum bachelor degree hence we found out that some of our honorable Senators, MNAs and MPAs belonging to different political parties have been found to be possessing fake degrees. The officials had to send the degrees to those universities which had issued them to confirm the same and then regretfully it was observed that some of the degrees were never ever even issued by the universities as therefore they declined to authenticate those degrees. The fake degree holders then had to quit assemblies but again I will say that criminal cases are to be initiated against them for intentionally submitting something which is not genuine but fake.
Who does not know that we have numerous “Fake Peers” also called as “Dabba Peer” who are all over the country and some of them are so smart and intelligent that they have become so famous that their disciples run into well over hundreds and thousands? They fraudulently profess to the general public including men and women that they possess some magical powers to cure not only various ailments but also solve some of human problems. People come to them for different sicknesses ranging from cancer to heart problems and on top of them they solve human problems as well like marriage and business etc. One way or the other they have gained so much fame coupled with respect that quite a large number of people from both genders come to them daily for various reasons. Normally they claim that they do not charge any money for the services rendered by them but in fact they not only earn but mint money to be honest. Some of them are even releasing their ads on television and newspapers which is quite a costly affair, particularly television, which itself proves that if they do not mint money from their disciples then how can they afford the expense on advertisement.
There is another category of fake people who are none but fake doctors and from day one they are treating people for all whatever sickness they have. These fake are both physicians and surgeons who treat anyone who comes and will never ever refuse to anyone who knock at their clinics. Interestingly some of them have even written some fake educational degrees with their names to impress the poor innocent and illiterate patients. They are really very much thriving in our society and one way or the other they have quite a large number of patients on their rolls who keep on coming to them for one reason or the other and therefore they are earning enormously which they had not earned in other profession so it is very much lucrative profession for them where they earn both respect and money.
At times one is faced with a typical situation where he or she is to get a job in shortest possible time but due to paucity of time they cannot wait that long to get it done hence they try to find to someone in between to expedite the same. Such situation gives rise to look around for someone who knows the boss so that the job is done and now sometimes and not all times one meets someone fake who claims to be knowing the boss but in fact he does not know the boss and the poor applicant being hard pressed is obliged the grease the palm of the fake person who boasts of knowing the boss just takes money and job still not done. There are many such like cases where poor a poor job seeker paid money to someone enjoying high repute to get an employment for the applicant but at the end of the day one comes to know that fake person has just swindled his poor clients. Fake are mostly found around government offices particularly near passport office, customs house and courts etc.
Fake recruiting agents promising lucrative jobs overseas are not only far too common but in greater numbers as well and they are spread all over the country in general and principal cities in particular. They are duly registered with Ministry of Labor and also issued a recruiting license to recruit and dispatch the people to their foreign employers and though bulk majority of people recruited through Pakistani agents are working overseas with ease and comfort. There are some very big names in the field which have offices not only in principal cities of Pakistan but also overseas and they truly boast of doing good job and their list of foreign clients is truly impressive and from that point of view they
Have done very good job both for the people and the country. Alas! we have some fake recruiting agents also who do not have any confirmed demand from any foreign employer but yet they send they collect resumes along with cash money to expatriate Pakistanis to overseas companies and once someone has given any money to anyone if them then he is doomed because the fake agent will keep on extracting money on one pretext or the other and the result is the poor aspirant keeps on paying to the agent with no success. In some cases the fake agent very innocently returns some money to one who has turned hysterical to work overseas. Most dangerous fake agents are those who even physically transport some people to other countries without securing any jobs for them. There are those unfortunate people also who are shipped through illegal channels to some lucrative European or Middle East countries but then they are arrested at the other end and sent back to Pakistan to face police and courts. Those who thought of living a rosy life as painted by the fake agents eventually land in jails which is much worse than what they had before being a prey to the fake agent.
Medicines but fake is so much common but well organized that at times even the one working directly or indirectly in health sector is trapped because he believed that the medicine is genuine but in fact it was fake. Many people have died on this account in different places on different dates for using fake medicines. Now this fake activity has tuned into fake industry whereby the fake medicine is so smartly sealed and packed that none can make out if it is fake or genuine. On the face of it the fake will have the same name, colors, design, packing etc as that of the genuine so not only a simple brute like me will be dodged but even others will meet the same fate which as such results into colossal health hazards which at times has proved to be very fatal and at times people have died by using fake medicines.
Food what we eat in Pakistan is not all the time fake free either and this I am saying on authority and with conviction. Red pepper powder is always not the powder of dried red pepper but it is mixed with red brick powder so it becomes heavier than actual red pepper powder hence fetches more money than what a truthful powder had earned. When we come to cooking oil we find that instead of using pure cooking oil someone uses grease instead or any other dirt cheap oil. I case of mutton I have myself read that either flesh of a dead cow is cooked and served as Biryani or kababs etc. Furthermore, even dogs and donkeys have been slaughtered and served to people as a very special food variety and if someone eating such a dish felt that there could be something fishy then the customer is pacified rather a bit elevated saying that a very special dish is cooked for you and you alone and that is why it is different in taste.
Last but not the least is about fake currency notes and postage / revenue stamps etc and anyone can see as to how many cases are already reported on such fake business and despite many steps taken by the government the vice of counterfeiting is not wiped out of my beloved Pakistan. It is really very sad that now our people not only fake print our own currency rather they are concentrating to print fake US, UK and others bank notes which will fetch more profits than what one may earn by printing Pakistani fake currency notes.
Isn’t our fake is so sweet that all take?
Iqbal Hadi Zaidi/ Kuwait