BISE Secretary Manhandles Junior For 'Answering Cell Phone'

Lahore, The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) secretary recently beat up one of his juniors and threatened him with termination from service in case he made the matter public, sources said.


The sources said the BISE Employees' Union was, surprisingly, supporting the secretary in the row. But another group of employees is backing the junior employee – Naib Qasid Muhammad Naveed – and said he was "targeted because of his active participation in recent protests against the BISE chairman and secretary for not attending office".

'Personal matter': The secretary, Mushtaq Ahmed Tahir, has conceded that he beat up a junior employee. While he said the "personal matter" had been "settled", the group supporting Naveed rejected the claim, and said "tensions are still high at work".

Education Minster Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rahman said that an investigation would be launched to determine if the secretary was guilty, and action would be taken in line with the law. The sources said Naveed was beaten up "on Friday for attending a call on his cell phone while he was in the secretary's office". They said Naveed was in the secretary's office for official work when a family member called him. "Naveed only attended the call to tell the person at the other end that he was in the secretary's office and couldn't talk ... but Naveed's brief interlude irked the secretary," said the sources, adding that Tahir initially slapped Naveed and then started beating him up. "Nobody stepped forward to rescue Naveed, who had started crying." They said the naib qasid was "injured", and had to be taken to Ganga Ram Hospital. Tahir later warned Naveed that he would be terminated from service "in case you make the matter public".

According to some BISE officials, "Tahir has close links with high-ups in the Punjab government ... he was just appointed to work as a representative at the board". A number of BISE officials claimed the secretary's chief responsibility was to "organise the Punjab chief minister's essay writing, debates and sports competitions". They said Tahir could be "rarely found in office ... employees and students are suffering as a result". They called on the Punjab government to take notice of the secretary's misbehaviour with Naveed.

The sources said the BISE Employees Welfare Union had also refrained from highlighting the matter because of the secretary's "pressure". However, the president of the union said, "It's not a minor issue." BISE Public Relations Officer Qaiser Virk said that he was unaware if the naib qasid had been manhandled.