ISLAMABAD: In an ongoing battle, Arsalan Bilal, a student at Bahria University, vowed to continue his hunger strike in protests of what he says is his unjust suspension.
Bilal was released by the police after being detained at Margalla police station for six hours without a case being registered against him
Appearing tired and weak, Bilal was greeted by his spokesperson and two friends outside the station.
Police said Bilal had assured them that he would “not stage his protest sit-in against his rustication outside the university campus in future.” However, Bilal said he would not end his hunger strike until his demands were met.
“This will be the longest hunger strike in the history of the country. I might be physically weak but my soul is strong,” said Bilal, while talking to The Express Tribune.
Police said they arrested him for violating section 144 imposed in the city but refrained from booking him as “it would have ruined his career”.
An international relations undergraduate student, Bilal went on hunger strike outside his university on April 6 against his rustication for one semester by a university disciplinary committee for alleged “gross breach of discipline”.
Bilal denied all charges against him and said that certain university officials wanted to get rid of him because they were irked by his inquisitive nature and some did not like the fact that he belonged to a minority sect.
He cited as evidence the fact that his thesis on ‘the Politicisation of Religion in Pakistan’ had been turned into a mere research paper despite his academic progress entitling him to make it a thesis.
A poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz that he emailed to friends and some faculty was transformed into a charge against him for his rustication as a ‘threatening’ email, he added.
However, spokesperson for the university and Campus Director Air Commodore (Retd) Anjum Sarfraz, who was also a member of the disciplinary committee, said multiple breaches of discipline had led to his rustication, “not just the email”.
“He has been continuously threatening his research supervisor besides sending her the email,” Sarfaraz said.
The spokesperson said Bilal was given multiple warnings, the first of which accompanied by a Rs 5,000 fine and came in June 2010. His father was also informed that “his son has serious emotional and academic problems in the university” and was asked to meet Bilal’s supervisor, said Sarfraz.
A copy of the rustication letter, available with The Express Tribune, said that “he has been disrespectful to his faculty members besides being a (troublesome) student and (he) habitually disobeyed the orders of his teachers”.
His father, Mobashir Iqbal, said that the issue what the administration made it out to be and that he had asked the university to reverse the decision.
“He was advised by his supervisor to change the topic since it would be considered biased as he belonged to a minority sect – but he was allowed to pursue the topic after he refused to change,” Sarfraz emphasised. He was manipulating his minority status for his own vested interests, said the university spokesperson.
Bilal’s thesis being changed to a research paper was because he failed to submit the required data on time, the spokesperson added.
Bilal, on the other hand, was insistent that the university accept his demands (available at https://www.change.org/petitions/justice-for-arsalan bilal?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=share_petition) or he would continue his hunger strike.
He said his “struggle was not merely for his own restoration – rather it was against the system and the pseudo intellectuals who were curbing his constitutional right to free thinking and speech”.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 9th, 2012.
COMMENTS (19)
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@GHks a yeah they are joke for people who really can not earn them for their own self .That said if one assumes your assesment about the Whole GPA and merit scholarship thing to be true than I think those teachers plus the administration and not the student should be kicked out who do those sorts of things you mentioned above. As far as the ruining the career of a student is concerned as stated by the principal,that they have done already by suspending the poor guy,his only mistake was trying to write about the issue which people avoid talking about in the much repressed and fundamentalist society of pakistan. Bahria university should be ashamed of calling their institution a " university"a place where the students the future builders of a nation are encouraged to be critical thinkers,free thinkers.Instead they should rename their institution as Bahria monastery where they can admit fundamentalist and monks who would never question their ideas. As for myself I am utterly disgusted by" the said teacher" and" the Bahria monastery" and will never ever dream again about taking addmission in such a fundo institution in which students are discouraged to be critical of old ideas, who knows what next they might do to the people like me who want to question their FURSOODA KHAYALAT
What can you expect from these dictators. I want to know how we can start a mass protest rally? We are with you Arsalan.
i do not agree with most of his demands having said that Arsalan is my class fellow and i have never seen him disrespecting any teacher for that matter. He is a brilliant student endowed with the intellect far beyond his age. He does not deserve what has happened. Its his right to take his research in any direction he feels like and he should be allowed to do so. some of the high ranked teachers due to their personal grudges with Arsalan are to be blamed for this not his 'mental illness' or his 'attitude'. i wish him good luck plus i do not think Bahria University is even worth his hunger strike.
@Waqar Murtaza: The GPAs at the universities are a joke. Most teachers award inflated grades to students to attract more students and to get a raise by showing progress. Any attempt by teachers to act otherwise gets a reprimand letter in their personnel file. The scholarships are just as big a joke as the handing over of laptops. I hope the university authorities take a stern action against this student (which they will not). The media should stop politicising the issue. The student deserves to be kicked out of the university and he should be.
@Unbiased: I agree with Arsalan on a lot of things, but are you honestly saying that we should award ALL students- those who fail and those who excell- a degree? That is not what he is fighting for. That degree is more than a piece of paper, it's a written guarantee that the person holding it is capable of handling whatever you throw at him in his/her specific field. Understand that.
@GHksa: Really? Do you know he is studying in the University on a Merit Scholarship and his GPA is over 3.5... So the degree is not the main issue over here sir...
@Hassan: Bahria Univ is not a private university. It still recieves state funds, it recieved land on concessional basis, and its administratration is staffed by ex-Naval officers while its it managed overall via Naval headquarters for senior appointments. Even if it is a "private institutions" It cannot do whatever it wants, as it has to abide with HEC rules and regulations. The appointment of ex-military officials to administrative positions does not conform with HEC rules.
The retd commodore says that Arsalan was discouraged to pursue his chosen topic because he would be biased as a member of a minority sect. How did he arrive at that conclusion? That is just prejudicial making assumptions. Has he no idea how intellectual curiosity works or will he only only encourage those topics that will have "desirable" outcomes.
He then says that Arsalan is using his faith to manipulate the Univ to meet his "vested interests". What an accusation to make, after first claiming that his faith has nothing to do with decisions against him.
He is making further accusations in public that were not made in writing to him. He has done nothing else but incriminate himself by focusing so much on Arsalan's religion, proving that it was a factor while making decisions.
Who is the university to decide that he has emotional problems? Which medical panel sat to determine that? So now any institution can declare people emotionally troubled and use it as an excuse?
The Universities all over the world encourage free thinking because it was free thinking which gave us minds like Isaac Newton · Max Planck · Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen · Carl Sagan · Nikola Tesla. The problem with this University seems to be that it is under administration of armed forces so by default they cannot allow free thinking. You see always it has to be under some bodies orders and chain of command, the free thinker has always labelled as problem creator, well if some body wants to do some thing big, leave Bahria University and join civil university where teacher like Dr Pervaiz Hood Bhoy teach.
I still have no Idea that how come Retired Naval Officers are running a University?. What qualification they have to run this university. I think the only qualification they carry is that they belong from the most Powerful entity of Pakistan. Their education is equivalent to bachelors in Arts and they are running a University and under then various faculty members PHDs, Engineers and highly qualified professionals work. What a sad state of affairs that our Army officers want to mingle in everything and even those institutions are headed by them which can only be destroyed by their interference.
An ideal way to run universities successfully: Hand them all over to soldiers!!
Then you'd see the DISCIPLINE, ORDER, and CONTROL prevailing all over.
Creativity, Critical thinking, dialogue, Questioining, Inquiry, Debate, Argument etc are simply nonsense.
Well Done, We are with you!
I dont understand why a university is trying to create fuss over this issue.
The matter should be resolved within university, now that it is in open debate, it may caste a negative image of University.
@GlobalNomad: The boy knew who was running the institute before he took admission. Besides private institutes may hire anyone to run the business. In this case it is retired armed forces officers.Had this boy done this anywhere in the world he would have been sent home packing.
The student looks like a trouble maker otherwise no institution go to the extent of rusticating a student. He is just trying to politicise the matter to get a degree.
All students should be awarded degrees no matter how they perform. Then these graduates should be given key positions in the government or industry. This way Pakistan will progress.
wow!
I would like to join Arsalan in this monumental task he has taken upon himself. Our education institutions have long been cesspools of corrupt ideals and thrones for sham personalities/characters who garner a following.
His demands are very reasonable while the institute's reaction is proof of the partiality and nepotism not to mention the mediocrity that is rampant in institutes nationwide.
Please provide us the details and whereabouts of this peaceful stage-in. It's our chance to support a voice of reason.
Shame on Bahria University
This happens when uniformed people run educational institutions!!! What else a nation totally raped by dictators, expect to happen. Totally appalled by the way this youth is dealt with!!!!