Lecturer may face blasphemy charges for ‘incest’ quiz

Three-member probe panel interviews students, teachers

ISLAMABAD:

An inquiry report of the Ministry of Science and Technology has recommended that the COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) lecturer who had quizzed students over “incest” and “polyandry” in an exam may be tried under the blasphemy clauses pertaining to deliberately outraging religious feelings or insulting religious beliefs.

The committee has recommended that a case may be lodged against the lecturer in question, and he should be investigated to see if his motives were to damage family values as well as religious, cultural and traditional norms.

If his motives prove that he deliberately gave an unethical quiz to students “then it is recommended that he may be tried under Article 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for further proceedings.”

When asked, one of the committee members said that section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Pakistan Penal Code was the relevant clause in the lecturer’s case. The “sub-clause is considered included” in the main section and that’s why it wasn’t separately mentioned in the report, he added.

In an exam of English comprehension and composition for the Bachelor of Electronics Engineering (BEE), Bashar’s quiz shocked the students and raised many eyebrows as it touched on a topic considered taboo in the modern world. The title of the quiz was ‘The Julie and Mark Scenario’ and the subsequent paragraph explains the situation.

The scenario was that siblings Mark and Julie were alone in a cabin at a French beach of France where they decided to make love. It stated that Julie was taking birth control pills and Mark used a condom. They made love and decided to keep it a secret. The quiz asked the students to share views if it was acceptable to make love and invite thoughts from the students with reasoning through relevant examples and personal opinions.

The science ministry had conducted the inquiry as COMSAT falls under its administrative control.

It formed a three-member committee comprising Ashar Mahmood, Amir Muhammad Khan Niazi and Zawar Hussain, who gave the recommendations after interviewing teachers, and students and going through the documents.

The committee found out that the exam took place on January 3 and the question was asked via a class WhatsApp group.

The lecturer’s employment was terminated when the matter was brought to the varsity’s notice.

Before asking about incest, the inquiry committee found that the lecturer had “asked his students in a quiz to write a paragraph on the topic of prohibition of polyandry in all religions”. Polyandry is a practice in which a woman can marry more than one man at one time, the report read, which too is proscribed in Islam.

“It is evident that the teacher was intending to sensitise students to these taboos,” the report stated, adding that his motive was ‘perhaps to stir the minds of the students towards acceptance of socially forbidden practices’.

Some students told the committee that the teacher’s behaviour and teaching were fine while others said that he was ‘needlessly forthcoming’, particularly with students. It was also found out that the lecturer didn’t upload the questions about incest and polyandry on the university’s portal.

Surprisingly, the report revealed, that the lecturer did not appear before the committee even as the “inquiry Committee tried to contact him on multiple occasions but his phone was not responding”.

It, however, added that before his termination, “he accepted his mistake and tendered an unconditional apology and requested forgiveness.”

The report further revealed that “he felt ashamed of himself without presenting any reasoning”. The committee has also recommended that the teacher should permanently be banned through HEC from lecturing at any institute in the country.

The committee further recommended that the relevant authorities may take appropriate actions to ban enticing literature that allured and hurt the feelings of the people of Pakistan. Also, it said, both print and electronic media may be advised by the federal government to refrain from discussing taboos and sensitive topics that go against family sanctities such as ‘incest’, ‘polyandry’ and ‘LGBTQ’ etc.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2023.