DC Chitral, Abdullah put my signatures on six papers, says Langlands
By Zulfiqar Ahmad
ISLAMABAD, June 26: Major Geoffrey Langlands, the former principal of the Langlands School and College Chitral, has said he knew nothing about his recent decisions, including the removal of his own successor Carey Schofield.
Javed Majeed, former Deputy Commissioner of Chitral and the founder of the school, in an exclusive interview told ChitralToday on Thursday night that he met Langlands at the former’s residence in Lahore on Wednesday and asked him about his abrupt decisions. To his surprise, Langlands plainly denied of taking any such decisions, saying he was completely ignorant of the development.
Mr Majeed also quoted Langlands as saying that Deputy Commissioner Chitral Aminul Haq and former vice-principal Mr Abdullah got his signatures on six papers.
“How come you destroy a tree which you had been nurturing for about 23 years,” Majeed told Langlands about the sorry state of affairs of the school.
“I don’t know anything as Abduallh and the deputy commissioner Chitral put my signatures on papers,” Langlands told Mr Majeed.
Mr Majeed said Major Langlands seemed quite perturbed over the controversy of the school that bears his name, and said: “Things must be put in order by you people who have helped me in making it an institution.”
Mr Majeed said he also explained to Maj Langlands that it was a registered school having its board of governors who always took keen interest in building the school and taking it to great heights.
“Chitral is a wonderful place [and] it was my idea that there should be a quality English-medium school at a time when the valley was famous for producing wonderful servants but no officers.” The former DC Chitral added that it was a reality.
The people who are out to destroy the institution should be grateful that I did not drag them to the court as whatever they had done is illegal. “Mei nei haath hola rakhja he un per (I kept my hands off a bit) but any further attempt to exploit a man of 97 years will cost them dearly,” he declared.
To a question, Mr Majeed said Carey Schofield terminated the services of some teachers which also included Mr Abduallh, the former vice-principal of the school as their track record was not satisfactory while some of them were not even able to communicate in English.
After the government teachers’ salaries were raised, he said Ms Carey increased the salaries of the teachers by getting approval from the board of governors (BoG), adding same was the case of increasing the tuition of the students for which there was no complaint from the parents.
“I often visit Chitral besides getting in touch with Ms Carey on telephone. She constantly apprises me about the latest development of the school…the only thing which some people don’t like is that Ms Carey is a bit strict which is again a plus point to be a good administrator of a teaching institution,” he added.
Yes Mr.Sajid I own every single word of mine and whatever has been uttered by me with full force at my authority.I have every possible proof.This is what we want that the matter should go to court and be settled there once for all.
Mr. Assad, can you prove it in the court the Captain Siraj has been paid 47 lac rupees by the School. Or you said as your will. Captain Siraj is founder and the most active member of the Langlands endowment trust established in 2004 and all the development after 2004 in the TLSC are due to his sincere efforts. He is the most active member of the BOG of the school also, that is why he has a say in the school affairs. In what capacity you are writing so regularly, can you prove all these which you have been writing, if you are dragged to the court.
What he has to do with school and education? He is a businessman? In one breath you people say before Carrey the school was at the brink of collapse, mismanagement, fraud and what not and keep in mind this time Siraj was member of the BoG and on the other hand you people credit him with awesome achievements of the school. I think you people shall make up your mind if the school was at the brink of collapse, If so, Langlands and Capt Siraj were responsible for this. If the school was doing brilliant, again credit shall be given to both Langlands and Siraj.
The land of the school has been purchased by govt, the money was given to it by govt, even the deputy commissioner has allotted its guest house for the KG, nursery section, all the buses of the school have been donated by Langlands’ students. I am amazed what are the contributions of Carey and Capt. Siraj. lf Mr. Siraj is so sincere about TLSC then why did he mint 47 lac from the lady as hotel charges. If a foreigner can bear so much for your kids then is it not your duty that the lady should have been given free of cost accommodation for the sake of school. It is all topi drama. koe apni dukan chamkatay he or koe apni hotel.
ا ایک سکول میں ایسے واقعات کا جنم پانا ایسا ہی ہےجیسے کسی عبادت خانے کے لءے جمع ہونے والی رقم پر ڈاکہ ڈالنا ۔۔۔۔ایسی صورت حالات پیدا ہونے کے بعد اس ادارے کو فوری طور پر بند کرنا چاہءے ۔ تاکہ اس کا زہر الود اثر ہمارے بچوں پر نہ پڑے ۔ چترال میں بڑے اچھے لوگ رہتے ہِں جو تعلیم کے فلسفے سے بخوبی وا قف ہیں انہیں چاہءے کہ کردار ادا کریں اور ہمارے نونہالوں کے مستقبل کو سیاست کا شکار نہ بناءیں ۔۔ کوءی بھی سرکاری اہلکار، کوءی پرنسپل ، ٹیچر یا اور کوءی بھی سکول کو اس طرح برباد کر رہا ہے اسے قرار واقعی سزا دی جاءے ۔۔۔۔ یہ تعلیمی ادارہ ہے کوءی کارو باری مرکز نہیں ۔ اگر یہاں پیسہ ہے تو وہ بچوں کی بہتری کے لءے ہے نہ کہ کسی ٹیچر، پرنسپل یا کسی سرکاری اہلکار کے لءے ۔۔ مجھے یہ بات سمجھ نہیں آتی کہ ڈی سی کو سکول سے کیا تعلق ہونا چاہءے ؟ اسے تو چاہءے کہ لوگوں کے مساءل حل کرے ۔ ہر کوے کو چاہءے کہ وہ اپنی چال چلے ۔۔۔۔۔ سکول میں اس حد تک بگاڑ پیدا کرنے کے بعد واءس پرنسپل کو بھِی چاہءے کہ وہ بچوں کے بہتر مستقبل کو سامنے رکھتے ہءے مستعفی ہوجاءے۔۔ ایک تعلیمی ادارے کو یوں تماشا بنانے پر دنیا ہمارے اوپر ہنستی ہے ۔ خدا را بچوں کا خیال رکھءے۔
The teachers who were sacked were sent home by a governing body not this was a single person decision. In case of any punishment awarded to him the employee can go to the court of law for justice and they have no authority to restore themselves. Employee shall not disclose except the persons having authority to require such disclosure, any confidential information during the course of performance of their duties is to be kept confidential and these are the parts of school policy. Carey Shofield took action for the betterment of the institution not for her personal benefits. Mr. Langlands sorry to say, was unable to work on school policies and procedures.The new salary scale, school policies, was introduced by Carey Shofield with the backing of the governing body.The academic records, attendance, participation in function, misbehavior of the students and other academic events are regularly recording. These are the educational reforms of Carey Shofield. There was nothing wrong untill the Mr. Langlands came to Chitral.Everything was going very well untill this artificial crisis was created.
I am not a well educated person and have studied in a govt school so it is beyond my comprehension to judge who is right and who is wrong in this controversy.
It seems to me all confusion, right from beginning I mean who established this school. How come a DC posted in Chitral for just over a year established this school and went home. If he set it up he must have made some one in charge of the school to run it. Is it the BoG or there any trustee to operate it. Then comes the British man and takes it over and runs it for so many year. While too old he is being asked to take rest in Lahore and before going there he brings in a female British as though there was no one in this land of the pure. So I am confused was any BoG and trustee involved in selection of this lady from England.
Now we are back to square one. Langlands all of a sudden appears in Chitral and sent the women packing and declares all her decisions null and void. After about two weeks, things are getting messier. If there was a BoG or trustee, why they are not holding its meeting to put things on track. How ironic that you are waiting a woman to come from England and save the school. If there is no BoG or trustee, why there is no parent-teacher association and why parents are not coming forward? Is this is a govt school or a private school. Is this a Pakistani school or a British school. Is this a charity school or what.
As I told you I studied in a govt school and have no relative studying in that school, I just want clarification about these questions. I am not against anyone or in favour of anyone I have even not visited this school.
Thank you all. Have a nice day.
Charsi.
@Tahir Jan: Mr. intelligent brother, those nalaiq teachers produced many laiq faiq students & I think you are living in castle of air. According to Mercantile laws which govern private institutions , it is norm to give at least 15 days prior show cause notice before terminating staff member. & what you are talking about, for that to happen the employer and employee must have a written legal agreement at the time of recruitment, which isn’t in this case. So my intelligent brother, the lawyers which are on our side had a deep look into all these things before going to a court.
Or raha sawal qabilyat ka to govmt job lene ka qabilyat se taluq nehi hey. Mai agar un govmt officers ka naam lun Jo intiha darje k nalaiq hen to aapko bohot sharmindagi hogi Jan sahib.
& one thing more, we have a list of more than 100 those parents who took their children out when Miss Carey increased the fees. & bear one thing in mind, we won’t allow this school to be hijacked by land mafia insha’Allah.
GoCareyGo
@ Mr.Nasir: The employees should understand, accept and agree the policies and procedures which forms and essential part of his or her service contract. You know violation of rules will be the ultimate cause of termination of service contract in any institution and principal being a head of the institution having the authority to take action against any misconduct. The teachers who were terminated by a decision of governing body, not this was a unilateral decision of Carey Schofield. Yes it was a failure of Mr. Langlands who could not able to develop written policies and procedures for school. As you told about increased in students fee, school fees is a financial source of the school. Finance are always needed to meet the needs and demands of the education. It is true no progress without money. Carey Schofield increased the fees for the sake of quality education and this was the only option to build up the school.
Mr. Anis, what do you mean by yellow journalism? Is reminding a corrupt WAPDA official his status, yellow journalism? Informing the public about the colonial style raid of a DC in examination hall is yellow journalism? Heroic crusade against illegal appointment of a controversial male professor in girls’ college is yellow journalism? Fie upon you. Mr. Zulfiqar is doing by the power of pen, what Roshan Ali Khan, Muhammad Essa, Daniar Baig and Kohkan Baig did by sword. There are hundreds of people earning million of rupees for themselves and their families in Chitral, they are not Chitralis benefactor. Mr. Zulfiqar is doing everything for common Chitralis, he is the proud son of Chitral, we are all proud of him. I request honorable Siraj Ulmulk to start a criminal proceeding against all the black sheep involved in TLSC scam and especially against Mr. Abdullah, who has eaten the institution like a termite.
What the hell is happening here. Someone told me heavens have fallen to ground in my beloved Chitral, and here it is, not only heaven but stars have also fallen.
The debate here going on gives an impression of ‘Saas-Bahu’ Indian soaps.
Come on my dear brain un-user friendly people, reverent sir Langlands & respectable Ma’am Carey are at extremes. I can’t help because I love sir Langlands & like Ma’am Carey.
So here is my suggestion which is new & interesting.
There is only one way this riddle can be solved without both side parties getting hurt.
& that is
We all must unite & wed Ma’am Carey to Sir Langlands.
Wow what a brilliant idea. Sir Langlands be the happy husband, & Ma’am Carey the wife as well as the boss. How about that my war mongering Chitrali fellas? What say you people. As Miss Carey has already married the Langlands school, how nice it would be if she marries the Langlands himself. 🙂 😉 🙂
Sir Langlands marries Miss Carey Schofield. Record Breaking News.
#Unite Langlands & Carey.
@Tahir Jan: hahahah & what about you sir? Working for free, & we know how working for free means. One supreme court lawyer tell me that if your teacher pursue the case in HC, then not only they reinstate but Carey & company also get punish or fined. Then after winning case go for one more defamation suit also. This he advised. How can my be hara teachers pay me with no jobs, no paisa in jaib. But their prayer for me, their beheli is more than diamond for me.
plz let this msg on air.
#GoCareyGo
#GeoUstadGeo
Nasir Khan
@ P.nasir: You need to understand this fact that the policy of the school clearly states that “if the principal of the school finds any issue with the teacher’s teaching methodology, the principal can fire him/her with or without any prior notice. Millions of teachers have been terminated in the history of Pakistan/internationally in this regard. Its nothing new. If your terminated teachers have been that intelligent then couldn’t they get any government job through competitive exam? Because they don’t know anything except making Langlands fool in the past through buttering. They deserve a termination. We are more than happy with this great step of Miss Carey.
This P.Nasir seems to be paid by the terminated teachers.
@safeer: Ambassador I mean Safeer bhai saheb, sir Langlands k bowl ko NO bowl to kara sakte ho our Miss Carey ko wapis lasakte ho and I also want she to come back ta k High court k Bouncer se hum unhe dobara England bhej dengy. You will see insha’Allah.
We won cricket trophy which Miss Carey kicked out k Langlands all trophies throw in dustbin ordered, when my teachers return insha’Allah by court decision, I will come dhol baja key, teachers ko har pehna key on our shoulders and kick out the 1 trophy only won by Miss Carey.
Hume Allah ki zaat pe pura bharosa hey. Hum ghareeb zarur hen but Allama Iqbal ra be farmaya
Khudi na baich, ghareebi me naam paid a kar.
GoCareyGo
GoCareyGo
GeoUstad
N.Khan
Mr. Nasir, Carey Schofield is a successful leader, honest, good planner, organizer and optimistic. She keeps the check and balance on teaching and increase the quality of education in Chitral. She always tries to achieve good academic results by the students through good management. All the local community, parents, students and teachers know quality education she always tries her best to provide quality education here in mountainous area.
Well, all this drama started with Miss Carey abrupt decision of terminating those teachers who had given away their heart and soul to the institution. She acted like a dictator and with one stroke of pen deprived them of their social and economic status. Is this the way they treat teachers in their country or its her own prejudice which compelled her to take that inhuman, illegal step.
@p.nasir:
Xhano mashqul kola dost. Everything will be crystal clear who is going to won and who will lose. The people of Chitral have already given their verdict. They want Miss Carey Schofield back soon. Thousands of parents and their children are so anxiously waiting for her return. We are going to give her a rousing welcome at Chitral airport and take her to the school in a convoy. We want to tell the DC to clarify who is he to play with the future of Chitral. To people, who still think that DC is a ‘bhala cheez’ must know that he is a deputy commissioner just because of you people. Beware Chitralis, do not give much importance to these ‘baboos’!
In short Miss Carey was the best for this institution according to the students of Langlands School & College. No one knows the pre and post situation of this institution better than the students. And they all want Miss Carey back.
Some one said: People that know they are important think about others, people that think they are important think about themselves. Ye baat Miss Carey pe such hoti hey. Ye article parhen please.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/26/legendary-englishman-geoffrey-langlands-row-over-pakistan-school
I love it say Legendary Englishman to our principal sir Langlands & Miss Carey only. I am happy for that.
Who is this Zuhur ul Danish Jo TLSC ko apna jageer smjh k dhamki deta hey DC ko. Bhai kamzor banda dhamki deta hey. Mard ka bacha samne muqabla karta hey. When DC took money matter in his hand, Capt. Siraj became annoyed, DTS y DC ko bad am krone ki sazish kr rage hen. Hamare sir already high court me case chal raha hey. insha’Allah sir Taighun, sir Nooruddin r baqi sir jeetenge to sub ko pta chal jaega basal wolf Jon hey.
I request all students of 2000-2002 to help our beloved teachers r sifarshio ki chutti karane me.
Nasir Khan
chitraltoday.net seems to me highly biased and pro-elite website presenting only one-sided view of the story. If it remains so in future then I will be compelled to quit this website in future.
Qadam Barhaw, We are with you Mr. Siraj Ulmulk to pull the school on its proper track and get it more teaching and learning friendly in the future. We will appreciate if the DC and government officials should focus on government school and leave the personal matters of private school to its trustees and BOG. It has been experiencing in Chitral that the Chitrali people as Board of Governors can run the systems better than sharing their offices with the regime or people of down countries. The school also gave good results when the power is entirely out of Chitral. We can take the object lesson of the ‘Pamir Education Society’ that runs two schools in the Booni and Garam Chashma. All is going well for many years and these two institutions has jointly produced more professional people and their students have yet made in world prestigious Universities than G.D Langlands School. These schools are run by local people as trustees and BoGs with small amount of aid from the government and to a greater extent from the self-help basis and donations of local people. The DC or even any CM or PM has no power to overshadow the authorities of local BoDs as they are sticking to their bylaws. When it goes to AKES primary schools that stay are much in the news in mismanagement in one or another way: as these are run by local citizenry with the partnership of people sitting in Karachi and other situations. The other example is AK Higher Secondary Schools that the management of these schools is totally outside Chitral these school progress is too fantastic.
The debate should be concluded, Siraj Ulmulk you as an elder and member BoD should call a meeting of partners in your earliest, the other BoD members should also present there, the parents as a key stakeholder and general body members will determine what to serve. The BoD can be remade by election or selection. The merging will also answer to sue on DC or not. The newly BoD should be empowered to run the school, according to the bylaws and the principal and staff should be accountable to that BoD. It should be open to all the respected writers that no one can make embezzlement with funds having a strong BoG/Trustees and Miss Carey as principal.
One thing I cannot understand that what can be the interest of DC Chitral in all this matter. Mr Abdullah may be a suspect but DC being in so much responsible position cant do this. I think Miss Carey is the boon of contention here. She started all these controversy from her strange and blind acts. She tried to create space for herself while defaming G.D Langlands and his supporters. She perhaps thinking that in presence of G.D Langlands good name her efforts cannot be recognized in history.Yes there may be a problem, corruption and mismanagement in the institute but these had to proved in a court of law before dismissing the officials. Blind and aggressive decisions of Carey led to a destruction of the institution. Now we ask DC Chitral or senior civil judge Chitral to form a committee to prob into the matter and fixed the responsibility whether it is Abdullah or Miss Carey.
If all of us think for the development of the area without any personal attachment, political affiliations and blood relations , for sure, we would clinch the deal.
There is a hell of nepotism in all these comments. Anis being the brother of Abdullah is going against the society, Abid under the burden of Langlands has become blind to reality.
Yellow journalism again!
It’s really hard to believe a news that reeks of partisanship and presents one side of the picture only. Instead of analyzing things in an objective manner, this reporter always takes sides and digs out facts that conform to his version of the reality. He put the onus on the Interior Minister and Mr. G.D. Langlands for this entire hullabaloo in the very first news that he published. Now he is blaming the DC and Abdullah for all this mess. I call it self-contradiction.
Mr.G.D. Langlands was accompanied by a serving Colonel and he met the Chief Minister before embarking on a journey to Chitral. How can the Deputy Commissioner and Abdullah be so conniving that they hoodwinked both the Colonel and G.D. Langlands and sabotaged the whole process of putting the school on a right track. Is Mr. Abdullah such a connected person that he made the Interior Minister cancel the visa of Ms. Carey Schofield??
This journalist reports news without substantiating them with facts and then later on goes on a facts finding spree and luckily he finds it!! Whoa! The flip side of such journalism is that people are misinformed and misguided and they form a distorted version of reality. He has no idea what he is writing about and is continuously violating the very canons of impartial and objective journalism.
Anis Rehman
Lecturer, Dept. of English
The University of Agriculture, Peshawar
The DC needs to be taught a lesson. He is the man who owes his education and status to Chitral. The DC has played with half a million educated people and befooled them; now he has no moral claim to stay in Chitral.
We, the parents and professionals, have planned to teach you a lesson, so that no DC like you could even think of playing with Chitralis in future. This is time for all Chitralis to wake up against this huge drama. This drama has us so much believe me! We aren’t going to take it for granted this time.
Go ahead Siraj Ulmulk sir, we are with you.
I totally agree with Mr. Akhunzada. To my extent I think the debate was over within that time when the article/Interview by sir Zulfiqar Ahmad published. I really didn’t expected this from Sir Abdullah he has taught me once so I can not even talk about him but yes one single act for position created all the chaos and mess and disturbed many students and guardians. I strictly condemn this act by him and DC Chitral. I mean what shame was it for them to bluff a 97 year old noble man. Anyways all’s well that ends well.
#wewantmisscareyback 🙂
@Siraj Ulmulk:
So, it’s all about the bloody money then!
Mr. Siraj Ulmulk, you are neither an academician nor an educationist. You have no idea how an educational institution should be run. You are a businessman whose only concern in life is to mint money at all costs, that’s why you got hold of the only document that is related to money. You are worried with the possibility of losing control of a large sum of money. You are not concerned with the educational matters of the college; otherwise as a member of Board of Governors, you would have called a meeting of BoG to discuss the issue of removal of the experienced teachers by Ms. Carey. You never bothered to do that.
Ms. Carey never consulted the BoG when she sacked some of the experienced teachers of the college. Similarly, she gave the contract of building the boundary wall for the school to your relative without calling for tender as it is believed to be public money and you still kept mum. Now when she is removed for her unprofessional actions you are all hue and cry. You called G.D. Langlands “senile” in your previous comment and now he has become reverent for you overnight. Instead of dragging this issue to the court, you should rather come up with constructive suggestions for putting the school on a right track. That would be more appreciated given the respect that you hold in the community.
P.S: The Deputy Commissioner might have hired your services for drafting the said documents. The way you have spelled the word “smelt” says it all. Similarly, full stop is always enclosed within the inverted commas. Moreover, you don’t believe your eyes not ears. The list is quite long! Cheers!!
Mr. Gohar
Your letter shows your desperation. This is not a fight of ‘whose English is better’ but a fight of morals and honesty.
PS: FYI, smelt and smelled can be used interchangeably.
Cheers.
We condemn the Dc’s decision. At that time I was there also. The way that he came and take over was totally illegal. Without out any investigation suddenly they came and implemented their high commands. At least he should ask from us that what is right and what is wrong. One can say that DC was misusing his authority at that time. Being a part of the school let me clear that, this is not DC’s school not Langlands school and not Carey’s school. This is a school of Chitrali nation. This is the hope of thousands of Chitrali students and parents. We are supporting Madame Carey because of the fact that she is an honest, faithful, transparent young energetic and hard working lady. She has done a lot for the improvement of this school after taking the charge. If this lady will not come to Chitral the future of our students will lead towards destruction. If there is not any security issue , its our request to the authorities of Pakistan that please bring Miss Carey back.
Absolutely right, sir. I agree with you.
Its requested to all the respected parents of the students of the Langlands School & College to take a positive step for the bright future of their children. Its not the time to criticize each other on this platform. The only effectees of this issue are our children. Miss Carey did a lot for the institution. She made systematic the transport, academic and fee infra structure. There were no parent teacher interaction or meeting before Miss Carey. She introduced all the new methodologies in the school which are necessary for learning process and no one can deny these positive changes in this institution. In a nutshell its requested to all the Chitralis please wake up now and do some efforts to save the future of our children.
A snow leopard has come out of the bag. Not just a cat. Her little cubs are following her. The first cub, a boy, told all of us that on 13 June 2015 he saw the DC Chitral make GD Langlands put his signatures on five sheets of paper. Langlands now says that they were five blank sheets of paper that the DC made him sign. Beaming with glee Mr Aminul Haq grabbed the papers but only to find that he lacked the competence and the fluency in the English language to put the best words to Langlands signatures. Consequently the services of a qualified Chitrali must have been requisitioned for the job. The qualified Chitrali made some spelling mistakes. The same spelling mistakes in all the illegal ” notifications”. But then there are only very limited such PhDs to choose from in Chitral. Without waiting for the letters to be printed DC Aminul Haq arrived at Langlands school at 10 A.M and, in the presence of the male teachers of senior school, he announced the following:
1. Principal Carey Schofield has been dismissed.
2. Langlands Board of Governors has been dismissed and a new board has been constituted.
3. G.D Langlands is once again the principal of Langlands School Chitral and Abdullah has been appointed the vice principal
4. All dismissed teachers have been re-instated.
That day I got a desperate call from Sher Haider the senior teacher at Langlands school. “Sir, come quickly to the school, it is important . Come quickly”. The fear and desperation in his voice told me that I don’t need to ask any questions and consequently I rushed to the school. Sher Haider told me what the DC had just announced. I could not believe my ears. I went up to the DC to disclose to us the authority which had told him to make these announcements. He replied coldly “oopar say order aya hay”. When I asked him how “oopar” was his “oopar” he said “provincial government”. I asked him to give me names of people but he did not give me any. I told the teachers that I smelt a rat in this affair and that they should not take any notice of the DC’s announcement until he gives this to us in writing under his signatures.
The next day Sunday I got a call from Manager Zuhuruddin of Alfalah Bank saying that DC Aminul Haq had phoned him to come to the bank to show him the accounts of Langlands School. He wanted my opinion as a board member of the school.
I told Zuhur that I was surprised that such a request was being made on a Sunday and in any case I am sure that neither his bank rules will allow him to show any account details to someone not signatory to the account nor would I, as member of the board, permit him to show the school account to the DC . Later I heard that, on orders of the DC, the same day a couple of policemen had come and picked up the school accountant along with his files and papers. Its only next day when I saw the five “notifications” signed by Mr Langlands that I saw some reason for the haste the DC was showing on Sunday. One of the five notifications was addressed to Manager Alfalah Bank Chitral and it said ” It is to inform you that the administration of TLSC has been taken over by the undersigned. You are requested to entertain cheques signed by Deputy Commissioner Chitral and the Acting Principal Mr. Abdullah jointly. Specimen signatures duly attested by the undersigned will follow”. Out of the five “notifications” this is the only one without any date on it. The school account had 120 million mouth-watering rupees in a fixed deposit in the bank.
It is perfectly understandable if old age is now creating issues for legendary Langlands. It is also understandable that Abdullah and the dismissed teachers are fighting a battle for their economic and social survival. What is not understood is why and how is DC Aminul Haq taking advantage of both Langlands old age and the ‘majburi’ of these teachers as well as telephone from “oopar” to act in a manner which is detrimental to the future of the children studying in Langlands School Chitral and to Chitral itself. This is no longer for G.D Langlands or Carey Schofield or Abdullah. This is a case for Chitral.
I intend taking this case to the Board of Governors and the Langlands Endowment Trust to file a case against DC Aminul Haq. In case I find that these two boards are dragging their feet on this matter I shall lead the parents of the children of the school to form a volunteer body to pursue it. If Advocate Abdul Wali does not have time then I will ask other lawyers to join us.
By the time all the cubs come out of the bag we shall have plenty of material to make a solid case against the DC. Trust the Snow Leopard my very dear Chitraries.
Siraj Ulmulk
If it is the case then I will request Siraju Ulmulk please lead the parents of the students to save not only the future of the students currently studying there but also to protect this prestigious institution from these black sheeps.
Being a father of two students of this school I endorse Mr. Siraj’s opinion and this is the matter of hundreds of children not only few persons.
@chitrali striker: I cannot but give an innocent smile 🙂 to your ignorance. Dear he/she, dacoits come wearing masks, while those looted by them show innocent faces, if you are getting me dear.
Lot of mudslinging was done against my benefactor & teacher, sir Langlands, so I had no other choice but to step in this dirty war, yet remaining within decent limits taught to me during my 10 years stay at TLSC by the primary & secondary teachers, no matter how incompetent they might be in your view. I never defended, nor will ever defend sir Abdullah in any case, for I have lot differences with him but I respect him utmost for being my teacher. And I also respect the current old faculty which are yet to be terminated by Miss Carey, utmost for if I don’t, I am destined to doom, this I believe.
As events have taken new turn, I now eagerly await the culprits getting punished sooner than later, & hope the culprits are made an example for every one to avoid playing with future of Chitral, be it even my own parents on the wrong side, don’t care. I will render undue apology if the court decries Miss Carey innocent as a guardian.
Justice is the demand of the day.
Stay blessed, Masked Man.
I am really surprised by the venom shown by a lot of your writers. Mr. Langlands at the age of 97 could have gone to the Chief Minister, Interior Minister and the DC asking for Ms. Carey Schofield to be thrown out; and at the same time met Mr. Javed Majeed and said that this act was deplorable. This is exactly how a 97 years old would behave. If people associated with him in the past went to him and appealed to his emotions he would respond to them and if someone else went asking for a totally opposite response he would do it too. It is for this reason that Mr. Langland at this age should be left out of the controversy and due respect given to him and his achievements and let this matter be settled institutionally.
The school exists under a law and the law will take its course eventually if this matter remains an issue between different parties. But keeping the view that this is a matter dealing with a noble cause let the Board of Governors which under the law has to settle the matter decide the issue. If anyone has an issue with that let him go to the court and let the court decide. We also have to remember that the school has a board and also trustees. Both are separate bodies and if the school has to retain future support it has to retain the trust of the trustees. So lets not do things which undermines that support.
As for some Chitralis saying that Javed Majeed owes them an apology for saying that when he came to Chitral the best position sought by Chitralis in those days was that of a servant. This is nothing bad. He was deeply sympathetic to the Chitralis and wanted them to do well. History records it. In the bureaucracy he was primarily responsible for pushing the IFAD funded Chitral Area Development Project; he also established the Sayurj School and established Shandur polo on an annual basis. He re did the polo ground and also the public latrines on the Shandur. The handicraft work in Chitral now mostly at Jhugur was revived by him with the DC houses sun room the best example of that. In a brief period of one and a half years as DC that was a lot. Compare this with what some of the Nazims did in five years! In the eighties there were hardly any Chitralis in the civil service and the education standard was low. We owe it to the work in the eighties and nineties that the educational standards here improved. We now can compete with the best in the province.
I don’t reveal my name yet my voice is heard. You reveal your name yet people do not bother what you say and who you are. You cry foul for your vested interest. I speak for the overall good of the people. You are out to back a particular lobby and I am here raise voice for the voiceless.
I am concerned about the future about my young generation and you are there to shower praise on the handful ‘Ashrafia’ who did nothing through out their lives for the betterment of Chitral. But when some outsider comes in to help my people, they start teaching us morality. As a son of Chitral it is my duty to expose these double standards.
@chitrali striker: You are making tall claims yet remaining hidden. You don’t have to be afraid to express yourself, and camouflaging with a pseudo name. Brother/sister, come up with your real name for if you want to put some weight behind your comments, for I think you are one person with two faces on this forum. Prove me wrong dear brother/sister 🙂
@chitrali striker: Brother, if you come up with your real name, it would help in giving feed back. This is social forum, so every one has the right to free speech keeping within moral limits. Its a kind request brother/ sister whoever you are. 🙂
Stay blessed.
@chitrali striker: No brother, you are getting me wrong, you haven’t read properly what I have written. In which line, you find me praising Mr.D. Millward? & I would love to see the real culprits get punished as suggested by Sir Sultan Wazir, whoever it be. The difference is that you are jumping to straight conclusion and I want fair trial first. Now, wouldn’t I be right to say to whom you are all praise for.. 🙂
Stay blessed.
Oh slow down, dear Chitralis. Don’t be so emotional. Mr. Majeed is 200 percent right, as he took at least some initiative and helped you in getting education. Before taking any objection, the so called Chitrali officers should tell us even a single thing which they did for the larger interest of Chitral and its people. We are well aware of the chicken-hearted Chitrali officers. However, the only officer which will be remembered by the people of Chitral for his services is, PMG Sardar Aman, the great man. Mr. Majeed did a great service by setting up a school for your children. Otherwise the handful of Chitrali officers would have made you their servants like they had been doing in the past. Your worth has been proved the way you are addressing a tiny deputy commissioner who has stabbed in the back of Chitralis by making the school controversial. And your officers are acting like a silent spectator. If this is what you call ‘Afsari’, then I am sorry for that.
To add to my previous comment:
The article published in Daily Telegraph UK on 25 June titled “British major regains control of his school in Pakistan at the age of 97”, which was updated today as “Power struggle at leading private school in Pakistan”, has quoted sir Langlands talking to The Times as “There is no question of her (Carey Schofield) coming back, her visa is terminated and they (Interior Ministry) are not going to renew it. The local people don’t want the lady to comeback”.
Now who is portraying the correct picture, Mr. Zulfiqar Ahmad of ChitralToday or Mr. David Millward of Daily Telegraph?
This might be helpful in case legal proceedings are initiated by any party to this tug of war. All we want is justice for all. Again I request honorable Aminul Haq, DC Chitral, to thoroughly look into the matter and absolve his name, which Mr. Javed Majeed has allegedly tried to malign, or if Mr. Sirajul Mulk is on the right side, he should also leave no stone un-turned and sue the opponents in the court, which will be the best way to set things right. Regards.
Also read BBC Urdu, The Time of London and the same journalist David’s story, for whom you are all praise, which he has written today. I am sure things will be clear to you. Aminul Haq along with Abdullah will soon be in the dock as whatever they have done is illegal.
Javed Majeed saheb ne purey Chitralio ki insult ki hy ye kh k k pehle Chitral me sirf ache servants hote thy, mene officer bnane k lye step lya. Sir Sultan Wazir ne sahi jawb dia hey. If u nt knw let me tel u Javed Majeed saheb that M. Aslam ambassador, Fazlur Rehman admin Karachi, Sultan Wazir commissioner and othrs all Chitrali in much high posts thn u, aap ki soch bht choti nikli. I request all Chitralis to objct ths statmnt. And i request DCO and sir Abdullah go to court r dudh ko pani se alag karen. Or Javed Majeed to apologise all Chitralis in court. Hum ksi k ghulam nehi hn Mr. Javed Majeed.
Now I understand the complete story.
The whole thing was suspicious from the beginning, keeping in mind Mr. Abdullah’s clever nature ( being his student i dont want to use the word cunning).
He always dreamed of becoming the head of this prestigious institute and now he is working on his dream, though illegally.
Totally agree with Mr. Sultan Wazir. This is golden opportunity to clean up all the mess in court of law, which wont discriminate between Capt. Siraj and Mr. Abdullah, Miss Carey and G.D Langlands. I request all those gentlemen who sincerely want the betterment of Chitrali youth, to pursue this matter in the court. I would love if one member from BoG steps forward in this regard. Now as Mr. Javed Majeed has leveled serious allegations against our respected DC Chitral, Mr. Aminul Haq, who we all believe is an impartial figure in all the matters. I don’t think any member of BoG would take the course of law, so honorable DC must clear his name, which is only possible if the matter is taken to the court. I hope sir Aminul Haq will not let his name be maligned in such a way. The licence granted by the court will silence all greedy and selfish critics insha’Allah.
Muhammad Abid,
Alumni and Worried Guardian
TLSC
The statement of former DC Chitral Mr. Javed Majeed is perturbing. The Sayurj School was established in 1986 when Javed was probably the deputy commissioner of Chitral. Some people in Chitral say that Javed had a lot of contribution in the establishment of Sayurj School; but his assertion “at the point in time Chitral was famous for producing wonderful servants but no officers” is totally incorrect and misleading. The reality is that there were seven CSS officers belonging to Chitral commanding different positions in different parts of Pakistan. Javed is of the same cadre. There were as many Chitrali officers holding important positions in other cadres in the province (then NWFP) as well as other parts of Pakistan. It appears that Javed knew Chitral for wonderful servants only. An ill-informed deputy commissioner.
The present Langlands School is one of the good educational institutes in Chitral town. It needs proper attention. Its Board of Governors (BoG) requires to be strengthened so that it can be run in accordance with the laws and rules governing such institutions. It appears from the present controversy that this institution has been run as a personal property in the past. Either no rules were followed at the time of recruitment of teaching and other staff or at the time of their removal from service. There are laws, by laws and rules governing government, non-government or public or private institutions in the country. The British “Langlands” and “Careys” can better be trusted but our Pakistani “Langlands” and “Careys” should take care while imitating the British.
Time has come that the matter is taken to the court so that all the facts regarding this controversy are disclosed and public is apprised of the real facts and characters behind this controversy. Mr. Javed Majeed should appear before and assist the court so as to settle the controversy and bring the criminal characters to the book. The district police should initiate legal proceedings on the basis of Javed’s statement and take all the six papers as mentioned into their custody. Arrangements may also be made to record statement of Mr. Langlands as required by the law.
What I have learned is the fact that Mr. Langlands was accompanied by a serving colonel who was helping G.D Langlands. More importantly the visa of the ex lady principal was denied much before the episode of her termination by the interior ministry. Afterwards the matter was discussed thoroughly with top officials then the decision was taken. Is it not a bizarre stuff to imagine that Mr. Langlands came to Chitral, Mr. Abdullah and DCO produced some fake documents and got his signature while the colonel of Pakistan army was a silent spectator. A complete farce rather a joke. These are the rumour and scandal mongers who made Mr. Abdullah hero from zero just for nothing. How can this be possible that Mr. Abdullah misled G.D Langlands while Miss Carey the one and only, the prolific writer and educationist couldn’t convince her fellow countryman. All this not a joke?