An officer of the agriculture department is being victimized by her seniors after she won a harassment case she had filed against one of her directors, Pakistan Today has learned.
Agriculture Department Soil Fertility Officer Umber Ghafoor had filed a complaint with the court of the Punjab Women’s Ombudsperson under the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2010, on July 13, 2015, alleging that Soil Fertility Director Dr Shahzada Munawar Mehdi had harassed her sexually.
Dr Munawar Mehdi was found guilty after cross examination and the ombudsperson ordered the penalty of “withholding of pay increment for a period of two years” on November 11, 2015.
According to records available with Pakistan Today, during the proceedings of the case, Umber Ghafoor was transferred to the office of the agriculture secretary.
A senior officer in the agriculture department informed this correspondent that despite being indicted by the ombudsperson’s court, Dr Munawar Mehdi started maligning and defaming the character of the officer. “After being transferred, Umber Ghafoor came to collect some documents once and met her colleagues, including senior officer Dr Muhammad Afzal,” the officer said. “After she left the office, Dr Munawar Mehdi served a letter to Dr Afzal, asking him why he had met with Umber Ghafoor.”
Meanwhile, Umber has sent an application to different high ups including the governor and chief minister of Punjab and all other relevant persons seeking justice. A copy of her application available with Pakistan Today reads that the agriculture secretary has initiated an inquiry against her based on a by Munawar Mehdi for which she has repeatedly requested access to records to prove herself innocent. “Instead of providing me with the relevant records, I was delivered another order on Dec 11, 2016, wherein another inquiry was constituted against me, without any ground,” her application reads.
The inquiry against her alleges that “she is habitually filing accusations against senior officers and colleagues, which is unbecoming and unexpected of a professional officer.”
According to records available with Pakistan Today, Umber was transferred to the pesticide residue lab in Kala Shah Kaku as an assistant agricultural chemist on November 28, 2016. Meanwhile, the victim applied for a PhD at the University of Agriculture, Faislabad, where she has stood first among the applicants’ merit list. Umber has applied for a study leave but the department remains reluctant to grant her a study leave.
Sources in department revealed that Umber was being pressured to repeal her case against Munawar Mehdi and that the department has unofficially made it conditional for granting her study leave.
Repealing her case would mean that Munawar Medhi would again be granted pay increments which would ultimately increase his pension when he retires. The ombudsman’s punishment also means that he cannot be promoted at the time. However, it would also mean that he is innocent, while the ombudsman has categorically ruled that Munawar Mehdi is guilty of sexual harassment and upheld Umber’s case.
“She was asked to sign at an undertaking that she will never raise her voice against Munawar Mehdi but she refused to do so,” the sources said. They further revealed that a few days ago Umber was once again called to the agriculture secretary’s office and pressured to withdraw her previously won justice and the new applications she has sent to various high ups calling for notice of the unjust treatment she faces in the department.
The delays in her study leave have already kept Umber from appearing for her midterm examinations which were scheduled last week.
This scribe tried to contact Agriculture Secretary Capt (r) Mehmood Ahmad on his official mobile number which is supposed to be kept on at all times, but the number was switched off.
