Expressing deep concern on the simmering fake degrees' issue the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) has called on the government to begin criminal proceedings against the fake degrees holders. These people basically broke the law and purchased the degrees, thereby giving a false undertaking to the election commission, breaking the Pakistan Penal Code, and violating the constitution, said a CRSS statement.
Cautioning people at large not to allow the incumbents state General Pervez Musharraf's laws, as the reason for their fake degrees, the centre urged the ruling alliance to introduce new laws or amend existing laws, which might enable the election commission to get all the information submitted by contesting candidates verified.
It is a matter of fraud and cheating and not of a particular law introduced by a particular person, the centre said. "The election commission must be in a position to verify candidates' undertakings within a stipulated timeframe," the statement said.
It is a matter of shame that 29 MPs have so far been found in possession of fake degrees, while another 33 have been declared as "suspect and dubious." The centre thus emphasised the need for evolving a legal procedure to properly scrutinise election candidates' credentials to keep the nation safe of facing any such embarrassment among the international community in the future.-PR