Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A tug of war between two groups for grabbing control of the Islamabad Boy Scouts Association (IBSA) has put the association on the verge of annihilation.

The IBSA has failed to hold any event during the last four years despite acquiring grants running into millions of rupees owing to internal strife and widening dissension among the aspirants on holding the reigns of the association.

Well placed sources told Daily Times that Dr Shaheen Khan, who is serving as an adviser in the Higher Education Commission (HEC), has remained as the head of the IBSA for the last several years. She transferred grants amounting to Rs 5 million to a fake account illegally. Later this amount was withdrawn through fake bills.

A grant amounting to Rs 2.8 million which was extended by the ministry of inter provincial coordination was devoured by the provincial commissioner and his accomplice, Iqbal Shah, by forging a nexus.

No record of this grant was maintained. A three-member inquiry committee has been constituted which will present its report within a week. A cold war is raging for the last four years between three different groups to grab the control of the IBSA.

According to an estimate as many as 35000 scouts were registered in schools, colleges, universities and other government institutions in the federal capital but the internal strife between the two factions of the bureaucracy has dealt a serious blow to the IBSA.

Former provincial secretary, Iqbal Shah and commander Aftab, have filed a writ in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and the court has granted a status quo in this regard. Former secretary Abdul Hye Sheikh, who was removed from his service for his alleged involvement in a sexual assault on a girl during the International Jamhoori in India has taken over the so called office of the provincial commissioner and the secretary in collusion with the Director Colleges Islamabad, Tariq Mehmood, in sheer defiance of the court’s orders.

A function is being held in this regard on September 22 at the Islamabad College for Boys G-6/3 Melody Islamabad. The heads of all the schools and colleges and 20 scouts each from all institutions have been invited to this function.

Sources told Daily Times that the basic motive behind taking over the control of the IBSA is to acquire the grant of millions of rupees which is released by the national and international government institutions and NGOs.

Secretary National Scouts Headquarters, Zahid Mehboob, is said to be patronising this foul game by grabbing a hefty amount from both the groups. Former provincial secretary Iqbal Shah told Daily Times that they were the real legal custodians of the IBSA and they had moved the IHC in this regard and the court had issued a stay order.

He told that Abdul Hye Sheikh and his other associates committed corruption amounting to millions of rupees and devastated the institution.