Sir: This is with reference to the article ‘Merit and the HEC’ (Daily Times, November 12, 2014) by Dr Qaisar Rashid. The article is an attack on the Chairman of the Higher Education Commission in the guise of discussing merit. It should be remembered that the selection process was conducted through a selection committee headed by Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Mr Ahsan Iqbal, and included senior academics like Dr M D Shami and Dr Ishrat Hussain. The selection was later approved by the Prime Minister (PM) of Pakistan. There is no violation of merit in the HEC. The author of the article is currently in court challenging the Chairman’s selection. It has come to light that the writer went abroad for studies on his own initiative. He faced some problem there with the management of the concerned institution and was unable to complete his studies. On his return, he moved court proceedings to have the foreign university blacklisted. The court referred him to the HEC. After perusing the case, he was informed by the HEC that it does not have the jurisdiction to blacklist any foreign university. He was given a personal hearing as per the directions of the court and accordingly a response was submitted with the honourable Lahore High Court. It is sad that seeming personal ire is vented in such a manner and all because a complaint against a foreign university was not upheld. The HEC has 49 scholars studying at the same university while 10 Pakistani universities collaborate with it on numerous programmes and so far have had no complaints. AYESHA IKRAM Director Media and Publications Higher Education Commission Islamabad