PESHAWAR, April 9: A female education officer in remote Chitral district has accused a provincial minister and member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly of harassing her after she refused to fulfil their illegal orders.

“They are victimising me since I refused to obey their unlawful orders,” complained Zohra Jalal, district officer (females) Chitral while talking to Dawn on phone from Chitral. She complained that on the directives of the minister concerned and MPA she was posted in the far-flung valley of Chital as a punishment.

The officer has recently sent applications to the chief justice of Peshawar High Court and speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly requesting them to provide protection to her against the minister and the lawmaker.

However Minister for Population Welfare Saleem Khan, who also hails from Chitral, rejected allegations of the female officer against him and MPA Ghulam Mohammad. The legislator was not available for comments.

“She blackmails teachers,” said the minister and alleged that she was involved in illegal activities and facilitated her blue-eyed teachers to draw salaries without performing duties. Zohra Jalal said that departmental inquiry was conducted against her on the directives of the chief secretary, but all allegations proved false against her.

She said that MPA Ghulam Mohammad, who is from Pakistan Muslim League-Q, launched a malicious campaign against her when she refused to allow his relatives to get salaries without performing duties in government-run schools.

She also said that the lawmaker also forced her to carry out postings and transfers of teachers and other employees in the education department at his (MPA’s) sweet will. “When I refused, the lawmaker produced a fake resolution carrying bogus signature of the elders of the area demanding her transfer from the post of drawing and disbursement officer (DDO) Mastuj area.

She had moved the court and filed a damages suit of Rs700,000 against Ghulam Mohammad for presenting the “resolution” and the court issued non-bailable warrants against the lawmaker on February 29 and on March 23, 2012. But he has yet to comply with the court order, she said in her application.

The officer said that she had also moved the services tribunal against her transfer and the tribunal gave decision in her favour.

However, the lawmaker and the minister were pressurising the district education officer and dislocated her from the post of DO (Female) Chitral on February 23, 2012. She said that her professional carrier was at stake because of the illegal tactics of the MPA and the minister.