Governor Shah Farman has sent Gomal University Vice Chancellor Dr Iftikhar Ahmad on a forced leave for 90 days on the ground of criticizing the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government’s decision and writing a letter to PM Imran Khan directly.
In a notification issued by Higher Education Department on April 22, Dr Iftikhar was sent on forced leave and in his place Dr Mansoor Elahi Baber, Vice Chancellor (VC) University of Agriculture, DI Khan, has been appointed as VC Gomal University.
Dr Iftikhar Ahmad has already tendered his resignation after developing differences with Governor Shah Farman.
Dr Iftikhar Ahmad took charge one year ago after sexual harassment cases were reported at the university. He, however, developed serious differences with the Chancellor Governor Shah Farman when he wrote a letter to PM Imran Khan about the up-gradation of Agriculture Faculty at the Gomal University into separate Agriculture University.
In the letter he took the stance that under Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Universities Act 2012, there is a provision of up-gradation of a campus or sub-campus of a university into a full-fledged university but there is no provision of up-gradation of a faculty at main campus into a separate university.
He opposed the up-gradation of Faculty of Agriculture, Gomal University into University of Agriculture on technical grounds.
The letter was sent on March 1 and on March 22 Governor’s Secretariat issued a show cause notice to Dr Iftikhar Ahmad for ‘opposing, criticizing a decision of the provincial government and by-passing the laid down procedure in correspondence’. He was also blamed for politicizing the decision of the provincial government.
Dr Iftikhar was asked to explain his position within seven days for which he sent a written reply. On April 1 Dr Iftikhar submitted his resignation to the secretary Higher Education Department, Peshawar.
Talking to The Express Tribune Dr Iftikhar Ahmad had confirmed that he had sent his resignation to the authorities concerned.
It is worth mentioning here that Gomal University is notorious for its sexual harassment cases and last year the university removed the head of its Islamiat Department Salahudin after sexual harassment allegations.
Official sources told The Express Tribune that the Governor is not happy due to Dr Iftikhar’s criticism of the provincial cabinet decision regarding the establishment of an agriculture university in DI Khan inside the Gomal University Campus.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2021.
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