Catfight Sherry Rehman VS Dr. Shahid Masood
This story has no geo-strategic significance. It will only interest those watching the Shakespearean tragic nature of Pakistani politics. Dr. Shahid Masood, the famous television host appointed by President Zardari as the Chairman and Managing Director of PTV, the behemoth state-run TV channel facing bankruptcy, is locked in a battle of wits with his own direct boss, Minister for Information Sherry Rehman, a Zardari confidant. The battle has been going on for some time now, but now it has entered an interesting stage. It is so dirty that Dr. Shahid now faces a Rs. 50,000,000 law suit.
Last night, at around 7:30 pm PST, a determined Sherry Rehman walked into her fourth-floor office at the PTV HQ building.
She was accompanied by Shahid Nadeem, a PPP loyalist and a PTV employee who was fired earlier from his position as Deputy Managing Director (DMD) of the state-run channel, a money-rich huge organization that is facing bankruptcy.
The PPP loyalist was fired by none other than Dr. Shahid Masood, the maverick, no-holds-barred television host picked by President Zardari to be Chairman/Managing Director of PTV.
Minister Rehman walked into the building Thursday evening with a single-point agenda: Re-appoint the fired PPP loyalist and DMD.
Dr. Shahid has been resisting the move. So Sherry Rehman sat in the lush Ministers Office, summoned the Director of Administration and ordered him to immediately issue an appointment letter restoring Mr. Shahid Nadeem, to his earlier post as DMD PTV with immediate effect.
The admin guy, a typical bureaucrat, rushed to type the letter and bring it back for the Minister to sign it and make it official. And she did. Later, she walked out with glee on her face, satisfied that she had forced PTV to re-appoint the PPP loyalist fired by the Chairman.
Within a couple of hours, Dr. Shahid Masood cancelled the Ministers order, revoked the reappointment, and by midnight PTV News was running a news ticker that said Shahid Nadeems reappointment case is being heard by a court and so the management cant infringe on a judicial matter.
Pretty smart, Dr. Shahid Masood.
The tug of war between the Minister and Chairman PTV is old. It began the day Dr. Shahid Masood tried to exert his power and felt the Minister was unduly interfering. It also has to do with ego. Apparently the Minister was bulldozing her way without showing enough respect to someone as well known as Dr. Shahid. The Minister, on the other hand, feels shes being ignored by an overbearing political appointee who should be thankful to PPP for the job.
Obviously the Minister cant do much here. The case of DMD is in the court and the Minister should not have intervened in this way, purely on the basis of her turf battle with MD PTV.
But there is another twist to the story and it is not clear if it has anything to do with the Sherry-Shahid tussle. A former PTV MD, Yousaf Baig Mirza, who was removed by Dr. Shaid too, has served him a legal notice on Oct. 23. Mirza, who is remembered by PTV employees as a colorful personality, has asked Dr. Shahid Masood to publicly apologize to Mirza by Nov. 6 or face a defamation suit worth Rs. 50,000,000 (fifty million).
Mirza is upset that Dr. Shahid has made public statements about alleged financial corruption during Mirzas tenure.
This story shows to most outsiders what kind of strategic-level pursuits senior officials in Islamabad are normally busy in. It also shows you why Pakistan, a nuclear power and a strong military with an important role in the worlds future, is a failure in promoting itself and its causes because it has a lousy state media machine that lacks teeth and punch. PTV has thousands of employees all over Pakistan, many appointed by political parties. And PTVs budget makes it one of the most lucrative government departments for those who want to make a quick buck. Example: Only one department of PTV, the IT Section, is alone responsible for millions of rupees in kickbacks, commissions, underhand dealings, and state-of-art equipment purchased to rot in warehouses, only to be replaced three years later so that more money could be skimmed.
Catfight Sherry Rehman VS Dr. Shahid Masood | Pakistan Daily
This story has no geo-strategic significance. It will only interest those watching the Shakespearean tragic nature of Pakistani politics. Dr. Shahid Masood, the famous television host appointed by President Zardari as the Chairman and Managing Director of PTV, the behemoth state-run TV channel facing bankruptcy, is locked in a battle of wits with his own direct boss, Minister for Information Sherry Rehman, a Zardari confidant. The battle has been going on for some time now, but now it has entered an interesting stage. It is so dirty that Dr. Shahid now faces a Rs. 50,000,000 law suit.
Last night, at around 7:30 pm PST, a determined Sherry Rehman walked into her fourth-floor office at the PTV HQ building.
She was accompanied by Shahid Nadeem, a PPP loyalist and a PTV employee who was fired earlier from his position as Deputy Managing Director (DMD) of the state-run channel, a money-rich huge organization that is facing bankruptcy.
The PPP loyalist was fired by none other than Dr. Shahid Masood, the maverick, no-holds-barred television host picked by President Zardari to be Chairman/Managing Director of PTV.
Minister Rehman walked into the building Thursday evening with a single-point agenda: Re-appoint the fired PPP loyalist and DMD.
Dr. Shahid has been resisting the move. So Sherry Rehman sat in the lush Ministers Office, summoned the Director of Administration and ordered him to immediately issue an appointment letter restoring Mr. Shahid Nadeem, to his earlier post as DMD PTV with immediate effect.
The admin guy, a typical bureaucrat, rushed to type the letter and bring it back for the Minister to sign it and make it official. And she did. Later, she walked out with glee on her face, satisfied that she had forced PTV to re-appoint the PPP loyalist fired by the Chairman.
Within a couple of hours, Dr. Shahid Masood cancelled the Ministers order, revoked the reappointment, and by midnight PTV News was running a news ticker that said Shahid Nadeems reappointment case is being heard by a court and so the management cant infringe on a judicial matter.
Pretty smart, Dr. Shahid Masood.
The tug of war between the Minister and Chairman PTV is old. It began the day Dr. Shahid Masood tried to exert his power and felt the Minister was unduly interfering. It also has to do with ego. Apparently the Minister was bulldozing her way without showing enough respect to someone as well known as Dr. Shahid. The Minister, on the other hand, feels shes being ignored by an overbearing political appointee who should be thankful to PPP for the job.
Obviously the Minister cant do much here. The case of DMD is in the court and the Minister should not have intervened in this way, purely on the basis of her turf battle with MD PTV.
But there is another twist to the story and it is not clear if it has anything to do with the Sherry-Shahid tussle. A former PTV MD, Yousaf Baig Mirza, who was removed by Dr. Shaid too, has served him a legal notice on Oct. 23. Mirza, who is remembered by PTV employees as a colorful personality, has asked Dr. Shahid Masood to publicly apologize to Mirza by Nov. 6 or face a defamation suit worth Rs. 50,000,000 (fifty million).
Mirza is upset that Dr. Shahid has made public statements about alleged financial corruption during Mirzas tenure.
This story shows to most outsiders what kind of strategic-level pursuits senior officials in Islamabad are normally busy in. It also shows you why Pakistan, a nuclear power and a strong military with an important role in the worlds future, is a failure in promoting itself and its causes because it has a lousy state media machine that lacks teeth and punch. PTV has thousands of employees all over Pakistan, many appointed by political parties. And PTVs budget makes it one of the most lucrative government departments for those who want to make a quick buck. Example: Only one department of PTV, the IT Section, is alone responsible for millions of rupees in kickbacks, commissions, underhand dealings, and state-of-art equipment purchased to rot in warehouses, only to be replaced three years later so that more money could be skimmed.
Catfight Sherry Rehman VS Dr. Shahid Masood | Pakistan Daily
.....such an innocent that he cudn't recognized the politicians as yet.............now he may suffer and ultimately supposed to be quit.
........"bohat bey-aabru hu ker terey kochey sey hum nikley"
