The fallout from the Axact fake degree scams continues as Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan vowed on Saturday that the probe into the Axact scandal would be transparent. He reiterated that a complete investigation will be carried out on the allegations of New York Times reporter Declan Walsh. Nisar also said that the Interior ministry will contact the US intelligence agency Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to provide legal assistance to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to carry out investigations in America and Interpol will be contacted to unearth the alleged fake universities.
There has been huge debate in public on how a company was given clearance to launch a channel without much scrutiny. If proper procedures were followed before issuing the license the alleged fake degree scandal could have surfaced a lot earlier. The scandal, although not yet proven has also tarnished the journalist community to some extent with public questioning how such mass scale illegal practices at Axact, the company behind the Bol channel were kept away from public eye. Also, in a somewhat surprise move senior journalist Kamran Khan announced that he is disassociating himself from Bol. In a message posted on social networking website Twitter Kamran, a veteran journalist said, ‘Charges against Axact are far from proven in a court but my conscience is not letting me continue. I’ve decided to disassociate myself from Bol immediately’. Azhar Abbas, Asma Shirazi, Wajahat Khan, Nusrat Javed and Iftikhar Ahmed also announced their resignations. Many others are expected to follow suit. The scandal is no doubt one of the biggest in Pakistan’s media history, due to the alleged practices of Axact Pakistan has also faced embarrassment on international stage.
The scandal has rocked the media industry in Pakistan and has tarnished the reputation of Pakistan’s IT industry.