Reconciliation: Fractured PU body to hold elections on April 3

A meeting between the two faculty groups agrees to follow a three-point agreement

LAHORE: The fractured teachers’ groups of the Punjab University have come to an agreement over the elections of the Academic Staff Association (ASA), and have issued a three-point agreement for conduction of the elections.

A meeting between the two faculty groups, late on Wednesday, decided that the elections of the ASA would be held on April 3. Whereas the second point of the agreement is that the process of the elections would continue from the point where it was left-off, meaning that no new candidate could apply to contest for the elections. The third point of agreement between the two groups is that a new ‘neutral’ agreed-upon election body will hold the elections, under Prof Dr Shahid Kamal.

Earlier, the Punjab University’s academic body had split into two factions and one of the group claiming to be the new Academic Staff Association (ASA) office-bearers have called for a general body meeting of the association today (Thursday).



The Teachers’ Front Academic Alliance (TFAA) claimed victory on Tuesday unopposed, while the other group, Teachers’ Alliance, has announced elections of the teachers’ representative body on April 10. The outgoing president of the ASA, Javed Sami belongs to the Teachers’ Alliance and his tenure ended in February. Both teachers’ groups had announced the elections for the new ASA body on March 10 and filed candidates to contest the polls. However, owing to disagreements between the two groups, the incumbent officer-bearers of ASA postponed the elections, while the TFAA declared its candidates victorious unopposed.

On Wednesday, TFAA ‘president’ Dr Mahboob Hussain along with other members of the ‘newly formed’ ASA body visited different departments of the Punjab University, including the Old Campus, to ask the faculty members to participate in the general body meeting of the ASA. The new body was seeking to get approval from the faculty members in the general body meeting.



The TFAA’s ASA includes President Dr Mahboob Hussain, General Secretary Dr Azhar Naeem, Joint Secretary Chaudhry Naeemullah Khan, Finance Secretary Munawar Iqbal, Vice President Science Dr Kamran Mirza and Vice President Arts Shabir Ahmed Khan. While the Executive Committee consists of Dr Khalid Mehmood, Dr Muhammad Khalid, Dr Maliha, Dr Nighat Sana, Dr Shinawar Waseem, Dr Tahir Rehman, Dr Ahmed Bilal and Dr Hamid Saeed.

Meanwhile, the outgoing body headed by Javed Sami maintains that the TFAA’s ASA was illegal as the outgoing body announces and conducts elections for the new body.

The outgoing body had announced the elections on March 10, however, it later announced that the elections would be held on a later date. The Teachers’ Alliance controlled outgoing ASA also dissolved the election committee due to their reservations with the other group. It also selected Prof Dr Muhammad Nasir as the chairman of the new election committee and announced that the elections would be held on April 10.

Punjab University spokesperson said the varsity administration maintains that both groups should resolve their differences in an amicable manner and promote learning and research environment in the university.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2018.