Former executive director forcibly occupies Trust office of Dr AQ Khan Hospital

LAHORE: Former executive director and general secretary of Dr AQ Khan Hospital Trust along with armed men allegedly took over the head office of Dr AQ Khan Hospital Trust at Model Town and expelled the incumbent management and staff from the office.

The Office of the Trust, in a statement Saturday, claimed that former executive director/general secretary of Trust Shaukat Virk, who was deposed by chairman of Trust Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan in his lifetime, accompanied by his gunmen, stormed the Trust office 18-K, Model Town, seized the office and expelled the staff on duty.

Trust’s late chairman Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, popularly known as Mohsin-e-Pakistan for his contributions to the country’s safety and defence, had removed Shaukat Virk from the post of executive director & general secretary of Trust before his demise recently, allegedly on charges of mismanagement in the Trust’s affairs.

The Trust’s letter, dated 10.9.21 addressed to Shaukat Virk states, “Dr AQ Khan, chairman of Trust, in exercise of powers under Trust deed, removes you from Board of Trustees and Board of Governance of the Trust, as well as from the position of general secretary of Trust with immediate effect. You are, therefore, informed accordingly and required to desist from the duties given to you and do not use name of the Trust as you ceased as a member of the Trust”.

While authenticating his order through a video message, Dr AQ Khan confirmed that removal of Shaukat Virk from the hospital’s Board of Trustees and Board of Governance as well as general secretary of the Trust, along with Major Muhammad Tariq, Mrs Ayesha Nazir and Muhammad Hussain, saying that they would not be authorised to sign any documents or use and withdraw any funds from the hospital. “The Trust will not be responsible for their conduct and reserves right to take legal action against them for any violation of the order,” he added.

Furthermore, chairman of the Trust Dr AQ Khan, in a video message from hospital before his death, also nominated his daughter Dr Dina Khan to be the next chairperson of the Trust after his death. He also appointed Trust’s new members including Sultan Muhammad Khan, a renowned chartered accountant, Raja Arshad Mahmood, a construction expert, Prof Dr Akhtar Chughtai, owner of Chughtai Labs, Prof Dr Javed Akram, Vice Chancellor of University of Health Sciences (UHS), Lahore, Prof Dr Muhammad Saeed, former chairman Shaikh Zayed Hospital (SZH), Lahore, and Ansar Javed, former chairman FBR, as financial adviser of the Trust.

“The ex-ED became vengeful on his removal and took this disgraceful step to cause disrepute to the social welfare project initiated by Dr AQ Khan,” the Trust’s statement said. In a statement, Dr Dina Khan, chairperson and general secretary of the Trust, expressed her utter disgust and dismay at this unsavory step by the ‘deposed’ ex-ED and his associates. “I shall soon be holding a press conference to let the people know the facts about this situation and the disgraceful way in which ex-ED is disrespecting her father’s written order and video statements,” she added.

When contacted, former executive director of Dr AQ Khan Hospital Trust Shaukat Virk vehemently rejected the allegations of ‘forcibly taking over the Trust’s head office in Model Town along with armed men’. He said Trust head office’s rental agreement was signed under his name, therefore, he reserved the right to lay claim on it. “I only had guards along with me and simply asked the staff to leave,” he added.

When asked that Trust’s current management claims that Trust’s chairman Dr AQ Khan had himself removed him from his position in the hospital through an official letter and video messages, he said the current management had produced a fake letter and elicited Dr AQ Khan’s statement against him in the final moments of his life when he was almost

unconscious due to his serious ailments. “The management cannot separate me from the Trust because I have signed all the deals to establish the hospital’s building and ensured provision of treatment to 900,000 patients in hospital’s OPD and dialysis services,” he said, adding that he had filed a lawsuit in the court to settle the matter once and for all.