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Pakistanis are furious over a Maryam Nawaz question in a civil service mock interview
New Delhi: A viral video of a civil service mock interview has brought Pakistanis together. It shows an interviewee being asked to address the Punjab CM as “Madam Maryam Nawaz”, prompting people to condemn the “visceral sycophancy” prevalent in the Pakistani bureaucracy.
Pakistan’s Federal Public Service Commission conducts the Central Superior Services (CSS) exam, an elite competitive test used to recruit top-tier civil servants into federal government positions. Around 18,139 candidates registered for the CSS examination in Pakistan in 2025, with 16,342 appearing for the CSS 2026 written test, according to local reports.
The video doing the rounds shows a man in suit asking the examinee if she knows who the CM of Punjab is. She answers in the affirmative and goes on to name Maryam Nawaz. He then rolls his eyes and asks, “Is she a class fellow of yours?” before telling the confused examinee, “Madam Maryam Nawaz.”
Pakistanis are flabbergasted. “The British left in 1947, yet candidates are reprimanded for naming a CM without titles. Expecting feudal deference to public servants is peak colonial mindset—we changed masters, but the system of enforced subservience remains,” X user Usama Swati wrote.
“It’s raining cats and madam mrym nawaz in my city,” another jokingly said.
Others decided to treat it as it is — a joke of an interview.
“Only madam ??? Why not Maryam Nawaz of the House Sharifs, the Last of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of the Punjab, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Illiterate Lahore, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons,” X user Biya Ali wrote.