Fake degrees, drugs, harassment rampant at Gomal University: report

Inquiry committee forms body to probe chairperson of Islamiyat department for harassment

PESHAWAR: An inquiry into public complaints against officials of Gomal University in Dera Ismail Khan has found that fake degrees have allegedly been issued to students while drugs are openly sold on campus.

This has been discovered by an inquiry committee which has been investigating several complaints.

The inquiry committee, which had been formed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Governor Shah Farman to probe alleged illegal appointments, out-of-turn promotions, misuse of authority and sexual harassment of students.

The committee, formed under the Section 21 (2) of the K-P Universities Act 2012, included the K-P Higher Education Department special secretary as its chairperson. Its members included the establishment department’s regulation secretary, finance department’s additional secretary, and the law department’s additional secretary.

The report prepared by this committee, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, showed that the committee received as many as 11 complaints from faculty members, administrative officers of the university, members of the national council, civil society, members of the district council, journalists and students. These complaints were made against the university’s vice-chancellor, registrar and other administration officials.

It said that the Gomal University’s vice-chancellor had allegedly admitted before the committee that from 2015 to 2018, fake degrees were issued to students of Bachelors of Arts and Sciences.

The vice-chancellor told the committee that the matter is due to be taken up in the next meeting of the university’s syndicate which will decide on the action to be taken against the officials involved.

The report further said that the university’s deputy registrar and security officer have allegedly admitted before the committee that drugs, including crystal methamphetamines (commonly known as ice), are sold to students on the campus.

The committee also probed allegations of harassment against the Islamiyat Department’s Chairperson Professor Dr Salahuddin.

The report said that in his statement to the committee, Dr Salahuddin rejected the allegations levelled against him. Instead, he maintained that he is known to be strict when according marks and that a female student had allegedly concocted a complaint of harassment when she did not receive the marks she expected.

The committee, though, formed a committee under Gomal University Science Faculty Dean Professor Dr Noor Abbas Din to probe the case further. In this regard, Dr Salahuddin was restrained from dealing with affairs of female students of the varsity while the papers of the complaining students would be checked by a third party.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2020.