The younger brother of Waqar Younis, the former captain of Pakistan cricket team (and the current coach who has accompanied the team as it battles its way though the ICC world Cup 2015,) was appointed as a pilot in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on bogus educational certificates, according to media reports earlier today.
This was disclosed at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) during the scrutiny of an audit report on the aviation division.
Initially, Secretary Aviation Division Mohammad Ali Gardezi and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Managing Director Shahnawaz Rehman expressed ignorance about pilot Faisal Younis’s relations.
But after the PAC quizzed and directed them to produce complete details, Gardezi informed the committee that Faisal was the younger brother of Waqar Younis.
As per details, the PIA inducted Faisal as a cadet pilot on November 13, 2003, on a five-year contract. During the verification of his educational record after three years of appointment, it was revealed that his graduation degree was bogus. The audit report claimed that in 2010, Faisal was penalised by curtailing his three years’ seniority.
In the meanwhile, Faisal produced a diploma in commerce, claiming that it was equivalent to the graduation degree. The audit report maintained that instead of dismissing the pilot, the PIA management allowed him to work in the national flag carrier.
Both the secretary aviation and the PIA managing director were defending the appointment, saying the PIA had invested a huge amount on Faisal’s training and inducted him as a pilot for Boeing 777.
“It is not the Daewoo bus, the commercial pilot should be educated enough to read the instructions on sophisticated gadgets,” said Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, a PAC member.
The secretary aviation replied that initially the qualification for the commercial pilot was matriculation with a commercial pilot licence (CPL), adding Faisal had submitted his CPL at the time of his induction.
Till this time, the relationship of Faisal was not disclosed and most of the media persons covering the PAC proceedings were waiting to know who he was. Some reporters were actually speculating that he might be the son of a former PIA managing director.
“Who is Faisal Younis,” asked Mehmood Khan Achakzai. The PIA administration expressed ignorance about the identity of Faisal. The secretary replied: “We don’t know much about him or his family background.”
“We want to know his relations, his background, where he was born, his domicile and who inducted him in the PIA on bogus documents,” Achakzai added.
“He is the brother of cricketer Waqar Younis,” the secretary aviation finally admitted after cross questioning
“He could be adjusted in any other organisation but it is not acceptable that despite knowing that he possessed a bogus degree he was accommodated in the PIA,” Achakzai added.
“How much did the PIA invested on his training,” asked Junaid Anwar Chaudhry.
The PIA spends about $35000 on the initial training (alone), the secretary aviation replied.
PAC chairman Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah directed the PIA administration to provide a complete record of the pilot.
“If you don’t have details about him right now, we can delay the scrutiny of this para till the next meeting,” he said.
The PIA MD informed the committee that they had removed 260 employees for having fake degrees and were verifying the degrees of the remaining employees.
PAC member Sardar Ashiq Gopang said when a politician could face the registration of a criminal case for a bogus degree, why the PIA administration did not register FIRs against the fake degree holders, including Faisal.
However, the PIA management had no answer to this question.
