Fake FF certificate

THE issue of fake freedom fighter certificate has been hogging the media headlines for some time now. Reportedly, another 2367 fake certificates have been cancelled. And that includes those of four secretaries and a joint secretary of the government.

While there has been propensity to produce fake FF certificates since long, the intensity of doing so has increased recently, particularly after the announcement by the government of increase in the service age limit of freedom fighters. And what could be more disgraceful than to see some senior most civil servants resort to fraudulent means to show themselves as freedom fighters.

We are constrained to suggest that the two most respected icons of our history, the Liberation War and the Freedom Fighters have been very grossly defiled through politicisation and corruption of the two. The fake FF certificates by secretaries and the War Heroes Crest fraud are two glaring examples of this.

While these two have been most despicable examples of greed getting the better of our morality, our resentment stems more from the very lackadaisical handling of these two cases by the government. It defies logic that the five public servants should not only continue to hold office despite the fact that their moral turpitude has been proved beyond doubt but that one of them should also be included in the PM's entourage for the New York trip. And it seems that the Crest issue has been forgotten.

We want severe punishment for everyone involved in the two cases of fraud. And that should include those who put their signatures in the fake certificates.