Teachers’ body demands action against IJT

PU spokesman says the varsity has zero-tolerance policy for cases of manhandling of faculty members


Our Correspondent December 14, 2017
PHOTO: File

LAHORE: Punjab University teachers’ body demanded on Wednesday that the varsity should remove the Chairman Hall Council of the university and take action against a student group over what they claimed manhandling of two faculty members.

These demands were made during a meeting of the general body of the Punjab University Academic Staff Association (PUASA) on Wednesday at the Senate Hall at Punjab University’s Old Campus. PUASA president Prof Javed Sami chaired the meeting.

In a statement issued by the PUASA, the members unanimously condemned the misbehavior of Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) workers with an assistant professor of Kashmir Studies Dr Sardar Asghar Iqbal and Institute of Education and Research (IER) Assistant Professor Dr Abdul Qayyum Chaudhry.

PUASA asked the administration to send the case to the main disciplinary committee of the Punjab University.

The general body unanimously passed a resolution and demanded the resignation or removal of the Chairman Hall Council (CHC) Dr Abid Hussain Chaudhry from his office. The statement alleged that Dr Chaudhry had a “biased attitude and partial behaviour” and was unable to control the affairs of the hostels.

Additionally, the statement said the general body sought immediate withdrawal of the mala fide fact finding committee against Dr Sardar Asghar Iqbal, which was formed by the CHC on Dr Iqbal’s execution of his hostel duties on the orders of Vice Chancellor Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir and the CHC himself.

Furthermore, PU teachers demanded an immediate registration of FIR against the culprits and declared that if the immediate actions were not taken, the future course of action would be decided in the next meeting of PUASA.

Moreover, the statement read: “The general body unanimously passed a resolution that not even an inch of PU’s land will be given to any other institute or government body and such efforts will be countered with full force and the case will not be allowed to be placed on syndicate’s agenda”.

The statement said Punjab University teachers once again ask the Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif not to run the Punjab University on ad-hoc basis. PUASA demanded that the advertisement for the appointment of a permanent Vice Chancellor of Punjab University be issued without further delay, so that teachers’ community may perform its academic and research activities with peace of mind.

The PUASA also strongly condemned US President’s decision to accept Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and expressed their grief and sorrow at this decision that is bound to hurt Muslims all over the world and may lead to further destabilising the already fluid situation of the Middle East.

Meanwhile, PU Spokesperson Khurram Shahzad said the university had zero-tolerance policy for cases of manhandling faculty members.

He said the varsity administration had asked the PUASA to file another application of the incident and the university would then file an FIR through its legal advisor. He said the varsity had yet to receive an application. He said it was a matter of policy that no violent element would be tolerated and the administration would take strict action against any such incident.

IJT Spokesperson Taimoor Khan told The Express Tribune that no activist of the student group was involved in any such incident and claimed that the allegations made by the PUASA were false. He said that the IJT had sent a legal notice to PUASA for ‘making false accusations’.

He said the accusations were made to gain political traction by the current PUASA as the elections of the teachers’ body were to be held in a few months.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2017.

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