PU teachers’ body split over protests against administration

President calls for protest while general secretary maintains call is illegal

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar University Teachers Association (PUTA) has split into two as they protest against the university’s administration.

PUTA President Professor Dr Fazal Nasir had issued a call for protest in the university on April 15 from the platform of the Joint Action Committee. But the PUTA General Secretary Dr Suleman Khan has termed this call as illegal.

He claimed that the association’s president had failed to present the call for the protest before the body’s cabinet for approval as stipulated in the rules, hence the call was against the norms of PUTA.

As per the declaration of University of Peshawar’s joint action committee, a protest was scheduled outside the university’s academic block at 9 am on April 15.

The declaration has been signed by Dr Nasir, Administrative Officers Association President Dr Fazal Sher, Class Three Employees President Mazakkar Shah and the Class-Four Union President Farmanullah.

Meanwhile, the PUTA chief stated that he had summoned a meeting of the association’s executive committee on April 10 to discuss the protest and the participation in the general body meeting.

However, Dr Suleman and some other officials did not attend the meeting owing to their personal disinterest in the matter and were now accusing the body’s president of taking a unilateral decision.

As per the notification issued by the PUTA general secretary, the cabinet meeting had been attended by Finance Secretary Dr Fazal Khuda, Literary Secretary Dr Altaf Qadir, Information Secretary Khanzada Mohammad Waqar and Executive Members Shuja Ahmed and Ehsanullah.

The meeting concluded that the hasty decisions of the president would damage the association while they termed it as an attempt to cause a rift between the teachers, effectively splitting them into two sides.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2019.