QAU students unwilling to talk

VC says new students barred from joining ethnic councils; faculty calls general body meeting today

ISLAMABAD: As the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) remained closed for an eighth day on Wednesday, the varsity’s administration said that the protesting students were unwilling to resolve the impasse through talks.

Meanwhile, the varsity’s faculty said they will not compromise on restoring the expelled students as they announced to call a general body meeting.

Addressing a news conference on Wednesday, QAU Vice-Chancellor Dr Javed Ashraf said that they were ready to meet all demands of the expelled and rusticated students who had blocked the main road the varsity for the past week.

However, Dr Ashraf said, he cannot meet demands for restoring the expelled students.

"I had a meeting with all the deans, senior members of the administration and the representatives of academic staff association of the university and they are in favour of [maintaining the] announced punishment to students," the vice-chancellor said.

The students, the VC explained, had been expelled by the syndicate committee of the university and he did not have the authority to restore them.

"We have offered them [protesting students] that the case of expelled students will be sent to the syndicate committee for reviewing and their other demands [of expanding hostel capacity] will be fulfilled on priority, but they refused the option," Dr Ashraf said, adding that the students had repeatedly refused the dialogue process.

He also clarified that no operation was being conducted against the protesting students, even though the expelled students were still living in the varsity hostel — illegally.

Around eight university students had been expelled while around 18 others had been rusticated after two student groups had clashed on campus leaving several people injured.

With that incident in mind, Dr Ashraf confirmed reports that the varsity had banned new students from joining ‘ethnic councils’, and that a notice had been issued in this regard.

“The students would have to submit a special form in which they would assure that they would not take part in the ethnic councils,” the VC confirmed.

Responding to a question, he said that such councils formed on ethnic basis had never been allowed on campus.

He added that the university is still consulting with the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration.

Teachers to hold meeting

QAU teachers on Wednesday said that the Academic Staff Association (ASA) has called for a general body meeting of the entire faculty for Thursday, October 12 to discuss what they termed as a “virtual hostage situation” the varsity was experiencing for the past week.

“Faculty members are confined to their homes, departments forcibly shut, research students and academic staff humiliated by protestors, and the ICT Administration unwilling or unable to take action to restore order to the campus,” said Dr Jamil Aslam, the secretary of ASA.

He noted that the faculty was firmly standing behind the varsity’s disciplinary committee which had decided to expel violent students.

“The kind of thuggish behaviour exhibited by a small fraction of QAU students is not activism – it is criminal conduct and it merits being dealt with as such,” Dr Aslam said.

“The faculty is keenly aware that if the expelled, rusticated students are restored to QAU, it would be the end to any pretence of discipline on campus and tomorrow these same people and those who think like them, will be harassing and intimidating faculty to compromise on academic standards,” he said adding that some QAU security staff have already been threatened with varsity property was damaged and other students intimidated.

Noting that the university was not a park and that administration had a right to protect its estate, the ASA secretary said that “those involved in these protests must realise that the faculty will never compromise on the issue of restoration of expelled students and that the longer this disruption continues the prospective severity of the disciplinary response will only increase.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2017.