Sindh govt appoints Fazl-ur-Rehman’s brother as DC Karachi

KARACHI: The brother of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been appointed as Deputy Commissioner Central Karachi.

Zia-ur-Rehman, an officer of Provincial Management Service (PMS) of Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has been appointed as Deputy Commissioner Central with immediate effect.

The incumbent Deputy Commissioner Central Farhan Ghani has been transferred and posted as Additional Secretary, Local Government and Housing Town Planning Department, against an existing vacancy.

The Sindh government has approved his appointment on deputation from the provincial government. A notification in this regard has been issued by Chief Secretary Sindh.

Zia-ur-Rehman is an employee of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s civil service. He has also served as Deputy Commissioner Khushab during the PML-N era.

He started as a PTCL division engineer before the 2007 MMA government in KP. During that time the chief minister sent a summary to the governor to circumvent the rules to allow Zia’s appointment in the provincial management service.

He was appointed a section officer in Peshawar and moved to the Establishment Division in 2014. He was removed from his post when PTI came to power and NAB began investigating how he was appointed in the first place without being a civil servant.

As deputy commissioner, he will be responsible for several government functions despite never serving in Sindh. According to sources, his appointment was reportedly brought up during the last meeting between Asif Ali Zardari and Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman.

The appointment of Ziaur Rehman as DC in Karachi invites criticism from both PTI and MQM-P. Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur said that Rehman was appointed without passing the required examination and his appointment is against rule of law.

Senior MQM-P leader Khawaja Izharul Hasan said his party has rejected the appointment of an officer from KP in Karachi. He said, “Over 100,000 jobs were given on fake domiciles. The Deputy Commissioner is appointed without the Federal Government’s notification.”

Moreover, PTI Karachi’s secretary-general Saeed Afridi said that the Sindh government was in need of “diesel” for their expenses. Afridi believed that the appointment was done in a bid to make the APC a success.