KARACHI: A search committee was set up on March 25 for the appointment of Vice-Chancellor of Karachi University and a notification was issued on April 7 two weeks later. After the notification came to light, Dr. Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, a member of the search committee resigned as his nephew Prof. Dr. Pirzada Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui was the candidate of the VC ship and he also refused to work under a member of the sub-committee of Dr. Tariq Rafi. Pirzada Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui is a defaulter of Karachi University and is also involved in getting Pakistan out of the international program.
Prof. Dr. Pirzada Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui, a candidate for the post of Vice-Chancellor of Karachi University, retired from the university on July 20, 2019. He has been paid a pension by Karachi University, while his other funds have not been released yet. Prof. Dr. Pirzada Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui released 119 different instruments from the Center of Excellence in Marine Biology (CEMB) from 30 September 1993 to 19 July 2019 under his name.
Prof. Dr. Pirzada Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui has run 10 different projects worth Rs. 4 crore from the Center during his service with stock entry. Mohammad Naveed Iqbal, Store Supervisor, Center of Excellence in Marine Biology, also wrote a letter to the Vice-Chancellor on July 29, 2020 in case of non-return of equipment. Acting Director Dr. Munawar Rasheed was asked for clarification.
Acting Director CEMB Dr. Munawar Rasheed had written a letter on 14 September 2020 to inquire against the store supervisor for not clearing Pirzada Jamal Siddiqui by the store management, after which the former acting vice-chancellor on November 23, 2020, Prof. Dr. Nabil A. Zubair, Dr. Tanveer Abbas and Ziaullah Sheikh wrote to the Director CEMB that the details of the equipment acquired by Prof. Jamal Siddiqui should be provided before November 30, 2020. So that clearance should be given to Prof. Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui before his retirement.
The meeting was convened by the then Acting Vice-Chancellor Prof. Nasira Khatun in her capacity as Acting Director CEMB and Prof. Dr. Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui in which Dr. Nasira said that things have to be returned in any case, to which Prof. Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui said the projects he took were his prperty. Dr. Nasira said that you should tell your students and prepare lists from them, after which one of his three students Dr. Ghulam Abbas, Dr. Seema Shafiq and Dr. Zeb Nisa prepared a list that was submitted.
Later on November 27, 2020, Prof. Nasira Khatun, in her capacity as Acting Director, CEMB, wrote a letter to Prof. Dr. Nabil Ahmed Zubairi, Convener of a Letter Inquiry, endorsing the Store Supervisor, stating that Prof. Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui had not returned the equipment, the machines, he took from the store as the return is a necessary process for clearance before retirement in the university.
On January 7, 2021, the Inquiry Committee submitted a report to the Vice-Chancellor in which it was revealed that Prof. Dr. Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui had obtained 119 items from store in the name of various projects. The Committee contacted him several times and wrote letters. However, he did not respond at all, citing Esta Code P.2158 in his recommendations to the committee.
After which the Director CEMB issued a note sheet on March 5, 2021, in which he referred to the request of the Inquiry Committee and Dr. Prof. Jamal Siddiqui and wrote that he should be issued pension and LPR and PF along with he submitted a document of Jamal Siddiqui’s clearance, according to which Prof. Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui, instead of returning the equipment taken from the store, gave the name of his former student who is now an assistant professor, besides Munawar Rasheed and others. Provided a list also contains the signatures of Dr. Ghulam Abbas, Dr. Seema Shafiq and Dr. Zeb-un-Nisa.
According to the documents, Prof. Dr. Pirzada Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui had taken the project of Pakistan Congress of Zoology on March 1 to 4, 2015, whose finance secretary was Dr. Munawar Rasheed, who was recruited against violation of rules. Rs over 4 million were spent on departmental salaries, while in this project procurement was also done through Finance Secretary Munawar Rashid in which the store department was completely ignored, on which the regular Government Auditor General Objections were raised by Pakistan which have not been cleared yet.
Audit objections
Prof. Dr. Pirzada Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui has also made illegal recruitments during his appointment as Director of the Department of Marine Biology. He joined in 2012, two years after his recruitment his appointment has been challenged in court.
The second recruitment done by Prof. Dr. Pirzada Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui was for the post of Office Assistant Grade 11 without any advertisement. Waqar Inayat was appointed as an office assistant in grade 11 and he was promoted to grade 16 on January 21, 2012, by director Munawar Rashid. In this context, dozens of employees were deprived of their rights. Earlier, on October 15, 2009, he had recruited Muhammad Ibrahim bin Gul Muhammad as a driver on a scale 7.
Prof. Dr. Pirzada Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui had submitted his application for Distinguished-National-Professor of HEC for one year in the Higher Education Commission after retirement, for which Dr. Abdul Waheed, former Registrar of Karachi University, wrote a letter to him on 12 January 2022. Informed that the committee of National Professor Nominee for HEC has declared you as a non-subject matter. After which, Pirzada Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui had again requested Dr. Khalid Mahmood Iraqi but his request was not considered again.
Dr. Nafisa Shoaib was also a student of Prof. Dr. Pirzada Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui. She was made an Assistant Professor when she got retired her clearance was also not sought. In addition, Dr. Seema Shafiq and Dr. Zeb Al-Nisa Burhan were recruited as Ad Hoc Lecturers on 12 February 2009, who were re-hired as Lecturers on contract on 2 February 2010, who are students of Prof. Dr. Pirzada Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui. However, some valuable instruments that have been attributed to them were not found in the entry of the store.Â
Why Pakistan was blacklisted from UK’s DFID program?
The Department of International Development (DFID), a subsidiary of the Government of London, launched a project worth Rs. 1.5 crore in collaboration with Pakistan, Bangladesh and the UK. Pirzada Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui was selected for the project from Pakistan. Under this program, a lab was to be set up on the coastal strip which was not done which was complained to DFID, on which a committee was set up.
According to the documents, a complaint was lodged with the British Council Dhaka by Dr. Maroof, a Bangladeshi, about the non-receipt of money. After which DFID informed Pakistan British Council Karachi from where a three-member committee consisting of one Englishman and two Pakistanis was formed who had visited Karachi University.
The British member of the three-member inquiry committee had asked Pirzada Jamal Siddiqui if he had set up a lab on the coastal strip with this money. Despite asking this question three times in a row, no answer was given, after which DFID blacklisted Pakistan for any such project in the future.Â
Degree of Dr Jamal
Prof. Dr. Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui holds a PhD in Coastal Oceanography from State University of New York, whose degree is recorded in uncertified university records, while he has been serving in Marine Biology, although Oceanography Marine Biology is the only branch the subject is not listed on his degree. The Higher Education Commission has not been able to verify the PhD degree of the State University sent by Prof. Dr. Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui, in which according to the Higher Education Commission only this university can only certify the degree to the student.
When Pirzada Dr. Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui was contacted in this regard, he said that his degree is original, the certified copy of which is in the record. Pirzada Jamal Ahmed Siddiqui says that the goods he took from the store were invested in projects and returned the rest, there is no truth in such things as he got the clearance.Â
