With reference to Muhammad Shafi Pandit’s nice review of Arjimand Hussain Talib’s book (Greater Kashmir 17 June), I am, however, amazed and amused at his vainglorious attempt at defending himself on “moral” grounds in the capacity of former Chairman of PSC. True, interview may not be a “determining factor for making” it to the KAS/IAS; but how is it that he made it so for the selection of junior lecturers/lecturers, doctors etc. during his tenure of office. There is do dearth of brilliant young men and women in our society who were denied justice then under the cover of misapplied technicalities or so somewhat mysteriously, or nay politically.
  He observes: “If a candidate has obtained above average marks in the written examination, with even satisfactory performance in the interview, he or she has a good chance of getting into list of selected candidates. I can quote my own example to prove this assertion. If I had obtained even zero marks in the interview for my UPSC Examination in 1969, I would still have been in the IAS list, probably around 65the rank instead of 5th rank at which I figured (which eventually improved to 3rd).”
Let our former top bureaucrat stop prating about his virtues or talking about his brilliance publicly. To quote Addison: “To be perfectly just is an attribute of the divine nature; to be so to the utmost of our abilities, is the glory of man.”

Professor Muhammad Ishaq Khan
Former HoD History, Kashmir University
ishaqkhanm@yahoo.com 

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