SBBU student’s family to march against harassment

Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University student had leveled allegations against teacher earlier this month

HYDERABAD: Accusing the provincial government of acting as partisan, the family of the university student of Nawabshah, who blamed her teacher of sexual harassment, will embark on a protest march to Karachi.

Iqbal Jamali, uncle of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University's (SBBU) final year student Farzana Jamali, told the media on Friday that they will start the march after Muharram 10.

He blamed the government for failing to conduct an impartial inquiry, citing the statement of Health Minister Azra Fazal Pechuho who alleged that the student was lying. Iqbal said the long march will start from Nawabshah and conclude outside the Chief Minister House in Karachi where a protest will be held.

He said that some political parties have also assured the family that they will take part in the march, the date of which will be announced after Muharram 10. The harassment disclosure sparked protests in several cities of Sindh and the universities' students in Hyderabad, Jamshoro and other cities also demonstrated.

The student has accused the acting chairperson of the university's English department, Aamir Saeed Khattak, of harassment and Vice Chancellor Arshad Saleem Arain of connivance. Four separate inquiries, including two on Sindh High Court's order, have been conducted over the allegations. The Sindh Boards and Universities secretary and SBBU, Nawabshah also carried out separate investigations.

Background

Earlier in the month, Farzana had addressed a press conference in Benazirabad district where she had leveled allegations against Prof Khattak, accusing him of harassing her for the last five months.

"He has been asking me to give him my mobile number and meet him personally in his office," she had alleged at the press conference. Farzana claimed that other students of her department also had similar complaints about the same teacher. According to her, she is the first girl of her village who had fought to be allowed to enroll in a university for higher education.

She said students were being threatened that if they dared to complain, they may face consequences in the form of disruption of their academic career. She had also accused Arain of supporting Khattak.

She claimed that when her father, Aijaz Ali Jamali, who is also a teacher, took the complaint to the VC he tried to suppress the matter and got Aijaz arrested by the police by registering a complaint.

The same day, the varsity's spokesperson, Kashif Noorani, had said that the VC had formed a three-member inquiry committee to investigate the matter. "The committee will submit its report to the VC in three days," the spokesperson had said.

A day later, the secretary for boards and universities, Alia Shahid, had also formed a four-member committee to investigate the matter. The committee comprised Prof Dr Abdul Qadeer Rajput, Prof Dr Parveen Munshi, Naushero Feroze DC Anwar Shah and deputy secretary of boards and universities Sohail Anwar Baloch. VC Munshi's name was only added to the committee after backlash from the media that it lacked a female member.

The Sindh High Court, meanwhile, took notice of the incident on September 5 and ordered the district and sessions judge and Nawabshah DIG to conduct separate inquiries within three days. The judge recorded her statement on September 7.

Health minister's reaction

Meanwhile, in response to the harassment allegations, Pechuho had claimed that Farzana was a liar. "I personally got the matter investigated and I have come to know that she [Farzana] is lying," Pechuho, who is sister of Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, had told the media in Benazirabad.

Her statement drew sharp criticism from other political leaders, student organisations as well as human rights activists, who held several protest demonstrations in support of Farzana.

Pechuho, however, had maintained that the allegations leveled by Farzana were baseless. "She was scolded for remaining absent from classes. In reaction, her family assaulted the teachers." A police case was registered against Farzana's father after he assaulted the teachers and in reaction, the student fabricated allegations against the teacher and the VC, she had added.

Backlash

"After Pechuho's statement given in support of the teacher and the VC before conclusion of the probe, we don't expect an impartial investigation," Ayaz Latif Palijo, general secretary of the Grand Democratic Alliance, had said. Palijo had asserted that only a judicial investigation would be acceptable to all.

His stance was echoed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA Haleem Adil Sheikh, who had earlier visited Farzana's family in Benazirabad and pledged support to her.

Shaikh condemned Pechuho's statement, saying she should have waited for the inquiry committee to reveal its findings before making any such announcement. "In light of Pechuho's statement, the inquiry committee's investigations have been rendered useless," he had said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2018.