Pakistani politician Jamshed Dasti has been disqualified from holding public office after it was revealed he used seven fake degrees to try and win elections.
Dasti, a Member of the National Assembly (MNA), obtained these degrees from institutions in Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Bahawalpur, and Karachi over many years. Every single one was eventually proven false or invalid.
His problems started long ago:
- His high school (matric) certificate was cancelled in 2002.
- His college (intermediate) certificate was cancelled in 2005.
- In 2008, he used a religious degree (Shahadat-ul-Almia, equal to a university degree) to run for office. When the Supreme Court tested his religious knowledge, he couldn’t answer any questions. He resigned to avoid disqualification then.
Dasti didn’t stop. He later got an FA and a BA from Islamia University Bahawalpur – both later found to be fake. He used the fake BA to try and study law, but failed his first-year exam.
Even after winning the 2024 election, the fake degrees were challenged again. While this was being investigated, Pakistan’s Election Commission (ECP) received a complaint against him.
When the ECP called him, Dasti insisted his FA degree was real and even gave them another FA degree supposedly from the Karachi Board. However, verification showed a problem: the name on the Karachi degree (“Jamsheed Ahmad”) didn’t quite match his legal name (“Jamshaid Ahmad”), though his father’s name and birth year matched.
Finally, the ECP also found evidence that Dasti hid some of his assets (property/money). Because of the seven fake degrees and the hidden assets, the ECP disqualified him from holding public office. I need to understand the key points: Dasti obtained seven fraudulent degrees from different institutions, used them to contest elections, faced multiple disqualifications, and was finally barred from public office by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The article details his degree history from matriculation to religious and university degrees, all proven fake. It also mentions asset concealment as another reason for his disqualification. The user specifically wants this rewritten in “simple English” – so I’ll need to avoid complex terms and legal jargon. I should maintain the factual accuracy while making it accessible. The 300-word limit means I’ll have to be concise but cover all critical events: his repeated attempts with fake credentials, the Supreme Court incident where he couldn’t answer basic religious questions, and the recent ECP ruling. Hmm, the article has some repetitive elements (like the photo caption appearing twice) that I can consolidate. I’ll structure it chronologically: start with the final disqualification, then backtrack to explain his history of fake degrees, highlight the humorous Supreme Court test failure, and end with the asset concealment discovery. I notice the original is quite detailed about degree issuing bodies (DG Khan Board, Islamia University etc.) – I’ll keep these for accuracy but simplify the descriptions. The name discrepancy (“Jamshaid” vs “Jamsheed”) is important to include as it shows pattern of deception. For simplicity: I’ll replace “quashed” with “cancelled”, “undeterred” with “didn’t stop”, “adjudicated” with “investigated”. The religious degree title “Shahadat-ul-Almia” can be kept but with explanation (“equivalent to graduation”). The tone should remain neutral but the absurdity of seven fake degrees speaks for itself. I’ll end with the ECP’s final decision to show consequence. Word count check: my draft is 295 words – perfect.
