Mysterious death: Depressed SU teacher dies of stroke

Kubar was apparently upset over Dr Arfana Mallah's promotion.

HYDERABAD: A Pakistan Study Centre (PSC) teacher, who allegedly got himself embroiled in a turf war between two groups of varsity teachers, died after suffering a stroke on Saturday.

Inam Ali Kubar, a lecturer in the centre that functions in the Sindh University (SU), was 38 years old. The deceased suffered from depression, said the varsity teachers. He had a brain haemorrhage while he was at his hometown in Setharja, Khairpur. He was taken to a local government hospital in Gambat, where he was proclaimed dead at around 2pm.

Varsity rivalry

Kubar had filed a petition in the district and session court, Jamshoro, on February 10, appealing the court to order an FIR to be registered against Dr Arfana Mallah, the former president of the SU Teachers Association (SUTA).

According to his petition, Mallah had submitted a fake experience certificate before the selection board in 2012 for her appointment as a BPS-20 associate professor.



However, on February 12, Kubar withdrew the complaint. He stated in his letter before the judge that, "I have been misguided by some miscreant, therefore, I apologise [for] my act [to] defame or damage anyone."

Signs of depression?

On the night between February 11 and February 12, Kubar took to the Facebook page of SU and posted some messages. "I think that if a human no longer remains beneficial for humanity and instead becomes harmful for the people, it's better [that] such a person should leave this world," he wrote in his post of 1:45am. "The evil inside me has become stronger since my return from London when I began taking anti-depressants. The negative attitudes in my personality have become more dominating. I apologise to the people who have been harmed due to my attitude or acts."

The teachers

In reaction to Kubar's case, Mallah commented on the Facebook page of SU that he was instigated by Dr Azhar Ali Shah, the director of Quality Enhancement Cell (QEC), whose reformist panel won the SUTA elections.

"He has been paid by the reformist group and he is the one of so-called quality co-ordinator of QEC and the blue-eyed boy of Azhar Shah," she wrote. "This is the third time this group came up with the same allegations." However, while talking to The Express Tribune on Saturday, she did not speak ill of Kubar. "He has sadly passed away," she said. "After he withdrew his complaint, he came to me and apologised."

Meanwhile, Shah denied that he motivated Kubar to file the petition. "He was upset after the selection board didn't promote him to [BPS-19] assistant professor last month. He filed a complaint against Dr Mallah because he felt that despite his experience he was not promoted [while] Mallah managed to get upgraded with her 'fake' experience certificates."

PSC is an autonomous federally funded institution. Mallah said the promotions or appointments at the PSC have nothing to do with the SU. But Shah argues that the SU is involved in the selection board.

The two groups of teachers have been at loggerheads since the embattled former vice-chancellor, Dr Nazir Mughal, returned from his long leave which he took under pressure of protesting teachers in 2012. Shah and Mallah blamed each other for taking benefits from Mughal.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2015.