KU professor detained, released after few hours

Dr Riaz Ahmed says incident orchestrated to prevent him from attending syndicate meeting

KARACHI:

University of Karachi Professor Dr. Riaz Ahmed was released after being detained for a few hours. Speaking to the media at Bahadurabad police station, Dr. Riaz Ahmed explained that on Saturday afternoon, men in three vehicles forcibly took him from Tipu Sultan Road to the Jamshed Quarters police station, where he was held for four hours.

He said that by chance, his wife spotted his car outside the police station and came inside, after which the police immediately transferred him to Brigade police station. He was then finally brought to Bahadurabad police station.

Dr. Riaz Ahmed stated that if teachers, the legal community, and students had not raised their voices for him, he might not have been released. He alleged that the entire incident was orchestrated to prevent him from attending a Syndicate meeting.

Meeting postponed

Meanwhile, the University of Karachi's syndicate meeting was abruptly postponed at the last minute on the instructions of the Secretary Boards and Universities, sparking concerns among members. A member of the Karachi University Syndicate, Riaz Ahmed, attributed the postponement to external pressure exerted on the university over the past week.

Ahmed revealed that the meeting's postponement followed an objection raised in the Syndicate agenda regarding the legitimacy of a serving High Court judge's degree after 40 years. He alleged that the postponement was due to the non-approval of HEJ Board members Nadeer Hingorani and Hussain Jamal, as well as Chief Patron Atta-ur-Rehman, who seek to maintain their 50-year control over the institution.