Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed on Monday. She was incensed over Asst Commissioner Sonia Sadaf for not standing in front of the small crowd that had gathered to receive her as she descended from the car outside the Ramzan Bazar in Sialkot. “Where were you when I reached there?” shouted the incensed SACM and as the Asstt Commissioner reacted coolly to her public display of bad temper, Firdous lost control over herself. She refused to listen to the quite sensible reply that fruit brought from cold storage to the 9 degree temperature of the open market would naturally tend to become soggy. Losing whatever sense she possessed, she roared, “Who is the shameless person who has selected and posted you here? I will talk to him.”
Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan has been hired for the express purpose of launching a vicious attack to browbeat the opposition leaders. The more she stoops low the greater the accolades she receives from the PTI leadership. In the process she hasn’t even spared the judiciary, though later on she has apologised, putting herself at the mercy of the court.
The PTI has treated bureaucracy shabbily. In Punjab the government has transferred bureaucrats again and again, holding them responsible for the shortcoming of chief minister Buzdar. It has accused bureaucracy of not cooperating with the government. Faidaus Awan’s unjustified outburst was reflective of the PTI leadership’s familiar bent of mind.
Chief Secretary Jawwad Rafique Malik has stood up to the uncivilised behaviour of the Special Assistant to the Chief Minister. The chief secretary shas rightly asserted that AC Sonia Sadaf and other administration officers were present on the front line despite scorching heat and the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Malik said that use of unethical language with any officer or a staff member was condemnable and added that no one had the right to insult government officers. One hopes his words will carry weight with those who matter.
