As teachers slam books shut, beleaguered Sindh University VC pulls out his cards

Public sector universities will observe ‘black day’ today.

HYDERABAD: With a complete teaching boycott possibly entering its 27th day at the second biggest university in Sindh, its vice chancellor, who is in the eye of the storm, is resolutely sticking to his guns.

An increasingly unpopular VC Prof Dr Nazir A. Mughal’s resignation tops the list of four demands made by teachers. He is responding to the crisis by relying on some of the powers of his office. He threatens to sack some of the teachers. His bargaining chip: their attendance records.

The crisis was a long time in the making but matters came to a head with the murder of Prof (Retd) Bashir Ahmed Chanur on January 2, the third on campus after the killings of students Babar Sandhilo on February 10 and Rameez Sohag on March 30, 2011. But Mughal has apparently been unpopular with teachers since his last stint as VC from 1995 to 1998. They allege that he is corrupt, relies on nepotism and promotes unfit people as deans and departmental chairs. The murders have just given them more of a reason to demand his removal.

Aside from Mughal’s resignation, they have also asked for the removal of the police and Rangers on the campus and a revival of student unions. Their demand for a judicial inquiry into Prof. Chanur’s murder has been accepted by the government.

Threat of sacking

To get the ball rolling, Sindh University Registrar Akhtar Ahmed Memon has asked deans and chairmen to submit teacher attendance reports. Amid the boycott, he warned of disciplinary action against anyone who did not take classes from Monday (January 30).

“We have to ensure law and order and we will request the government take action against those who are breaking the law,” VC Mughal said in an interview with The Express Tribune last week. Moments earlier, the corridor outside his office resonated with slogans shouted by teachers who wanted him to resign.

The VC admitted that the heads of departments do not report to him about irregular teachers. He said that accountability is lagging at their end because VCs tend to serve for briefer periods while the faculty heads and teachers have to work together longer. An electronic attendance mechanism has not been effectively introduced at the university though the VC claims that some of the faculties do have it.

The VC has prepared a list of 150 teachers who he says can be hired if the serving teachers face action.

“We have [an] enormous [pool of] fresh graduates and even sophomores besides the retired teachers who can be hired.”

He nodded when asked if that means the number of the serving teachers, corresponding to his list, will be fired. “The number can vary but the situation necessitates action. I can no longer allow [for] the future of 25,000 students of the university [to be] compromised for just a ‘few teachers’ who are acting in their own interest.” What he failed to explain was why he would need to hire 150 teachers if only a few needed to be sacked.

Aside from the general circular, two teachers have been singled out. Show-cause notices were issued only to Dr Azhar Shah, who is representing the protesting teachers via the Sindh University Teachers Association (SUTA), and Arfana Mallah, its general secretary. They were asked to explain their ‘non-academic attitude’.

They have decided to challenge the show-cause notice in court. Mallah told The Express Tribune that the boycotts and protests are their democratic and constitutional right. “They can in no way be described as non-academic activities.” She claimed that all of SUTA’s 540 members have been made to submit show cause explanations.

By Sunday, more backing for the teachers came in the form of the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA). It said that there would be a ‘black day’ at all public sector universities in Sindh today, Monday, in protest against the show-cause notices.

FAPUASA’s Prof. Inayatullah Laghari said that the teachers at public sector universities will teach for half a day from January 31 to February 2 in a token strike.

If their demands are not accepted, a complete strike will be observed again from February 4.

Reaction to Chanur

Prof. Chanur’s murder investigations have in the meanwhile, not apparently made any headway. His last assignment was director of student affairs and the VC believes that it was this engagement with the students, which made him appear prominent among the members of a disciplinary committee, which rusticated 18 students last month. “What was discussed by the disciplinary committee may have [been] leaked to the students and which elicited such a reaction,” Mughal said. Although he did not name anyone, his suspicion revolved around the rusticated students.

Chanur’s two children were given grade 16 and grade 18 jobs. “The university syndicate took exceptional view of the situation and went out of the way,” said Mughal. “Even the tuition fee of his two daughters was waived.”

So strong is the opposition to Mughal that his decision to give jobs to the murdered professor’s children has also been criticized. “It is this VC’s penchant to violate laws and administrate like a ruler which has won him the teachers’ dislike,” said Prof Badar Soomro, a former president of SUTA.

Other problems

Accusations of corruption, nepotism and maladministration surround Mughal. He is accused of hiring retired people at important administrative positions, bypassing the syndicate and senate and for being irregular on his seat, among others. “For many years the university’s annual budget has not been approved by the senate,” says SUTA’s Arfana Mallah.

Mughal did not refute this claim but he put the blame on Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad for not constituting the senate for two years. According to the law, the members of the senate should be appointed within six months after it lapses.

While Mughal justified hiring retired teachers for administrative posts, he also held the governor responsible for taking these decisions. “For the last ten years a pattern has been witnessed in the higher education institutions that an official is given charge of three to five posts.”

He recounted the introduction of the semester systems, equal credit hours of teaching for junior and senior teachers, office hours to help students after class, ending no-go areas in the hostels and giving the university a ‘code of conduct’ - agreed to at the all parties conference last year - as some of his reforms since he assumed the charge in January 2010.

“Unlike the other two universities in Jamshoro, this is a general university. We have 25,000 students belonging to different social and economic classes who pay a meagre fee for learning,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2012.