Whereas the roots of the opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are considered weak in Sind, the Pakistan Customs’ Media, the official media department of the Customs, has been promoting PML-N’s cause in the province.
The Customs department had been under the direct control of the Ministry of Defence and was presently being headed by Pakistan Peoples’ Party’s (PPP’s) Syed Naveed Qamar. However, the official of the Customs’ media department were promoting a political party which was in violation of the service rules and the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan Today had learnt.
Per the Constitution of Pakistan, no government servant should take part in any kind of political activities during tenure of his/her service. However, he could take part in politics after a gap of two years after retirement from government service.
According to details, Pakistan Customs Chief Media Liaison Officer Qamar Thalho had retired from his post after reaching the age of 60 in March last year. However, he used his influence to remain on the same position on contract basis which was putting serious hurdles in the way of junior officials who could have been promoted to senior posts, reliable sources told Pakistan Today.
The sources said that the chief media liaison officer had retired last year, but he was not ready to leave the post and was still doing the job on the basis of a one year contract. This move had greatly disappointed the junior officials who had been waiting for promotions since long, they added.
Sources alleged that the chief media liaison officer was using the official mailing address of Pakistan Customs’ for political purposes, which was bringing a bad name to the otherwise esteemed institutions.
On February 13th, a media release of the PML-N was widely circulated among the city’s media while bearing the official email address of the customs, i.e. [email protected], with a request from the custom officer to consider the press release for publication.
The email forwarded to the media was as follows: “Please find the press release attached.
Regards, Qamar Thalho Chief Media Liaison Officer Customs.” Furthermore, the email also carried the press release of PML-N Sindh’s information secretary Ali Akbar Gujjar who said that the rulers were not ready to leave their position, nor were they in any mood to hold general elections.
Pakistan Today tried to contact Qamar Thalho to seek his version on the story, but his mobile phone remained unanswered.
