Government College: Khurshid’s extension as registrar rejected again

‘Sexual harassment allegations are the reason behind the rejection’

LAHORE: The Higher Education Department (HED) has rejected a summary seeking an extension of Sahibzada Faisal Khurshid’s appointment as Government College University’s (GCU) registrar.

The summary was rejected on Tuesday because Khurshid faces an inquiry involving allegations of sexual harassment, HED sources told The Express Tribune.

A female faculty member had written to both the chief minister and the late governor, Salmaan Taseer, accusing Faisal Khurshid of asking her for sexual favours if she wanted to be promoted to assistant professor. The chief minister on October 18, 2010 had directed HED secretary to conduct an inquiry against Khurshid and take stern action against him if he was found guilty.

The GCU vice chancellor (VC) had sent a summary to the HED in November 2010, asking that Khurshid’s tenure be extended for another term but the HED had rejected the request. The department said that according to the GCU Ordinance 2002, the post should be advertised.

GCU had called for applications for the post of registrar in December 2010, after which 29 candidates, including Khurshid, applied. Out of the 29, 15 were short listed and after interviews three names were sent to the vice chancellor (VC).

Apart from Khurshid, the other principal candidates included a former registrar of the Islamia University Bahawalpur, Muhammad Ishtiaq, and Gul Aziz Awan, a faculty member of the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Karachi.

HED officials said that Khurshid’s summary had been rejected for the second time because of the allegations against him. They, however, could not say who would conduct the inquiry against Khurshid. “The HED will write to GCU in order to discuss the role of the search committee and syndicate would be discussed in finalizing the names for slot of registrar,” they said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2011.