Following the drama that unfolded yesterday with regards to the Aitchison College scandal involving PML-N’s Ahad Cheema, information minister Punjab Uzma Bukhari unsuccessfully attempted to defend her party on a talk show last night.
She appeared on Mansoor Ali Khan’s show Hum Dekhengai’ where Khan grilled her on the events leading up to the Principal Aitchison College Mr. Michael A. Thomson’s resignation after his prolonged confrontation with Governor Punjab Baligh Ur Rehman over the matter of the waiver of tuition fee two students, sons of Ahad Cheema, a former senior Punjab bureaucrat and current Federal Minister for Economic Affairs.
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Bukhari attempted to paint Thomson as a troublemaker who had it coming.
“He was already on his way out next month. He created this issue just for the sake of it”, she said.
Thomson, who joined as Principal in 2016 is serving his third term and did not seek another extension this year owing to retirement plans. He had told the school’s Board of Governors (BoG) to begin searching for his replacement and also offered to stay on for a complete year to work alongside the new principal for a smooth transition.
She went on to argue that Ahad Cheema was a man of limited means because he had been imprisoned during the PTI’s tenure and therefore could not afford Aitchison’s fee for his two sons.
To this, Mansoor Ali Khan said that the issue here is not of affordability, rather the manner in which a Federal Minister used the power of his office and his position in the ruling party of the country to get preferential treatment and a complete waiver of school fee for his sons that is not school policy.
“Due to this, not only has Mr Thomson resigned, so has Syed Babar Ali”, Mansoor added.
“Do yo know of any educational institution in Pakistan that will hold your seat and not take any fee for a period of three years?” he questioned.
To this Bukhari had no answer.
Watch the complete exchange here:
