Campus standoff: QAU faculty seeks city admin’s help to mediate
Students concerned no time to reschedule classes cancelled because of the conflict.
As the stand-off between the students and administration of Quaid-i-Azam University and the tense atmosphere continues, the faculty has asked the vice-chancellor (VC) to request the district administration to restore academic and research activities on the campus.
In a meeting on Tuesday, the faculty was of the view that the current circumstances were not conducive for academic activities, especially towards the end of the academic year. The meeting was chaired by the VC Dr Masoom Yaseenzai and attended by senior faculty members.
Earlier in the day, students not directly part of the protest expressed concern at the continuing stand-off, saying that classes were scheduled to end for the semester on June 7 and final exams were to commence shortly afterwards. the students said that they have already suffered a lot in the aftermath of the April 27 incident that led to the expulsion of the 11 students from the university when the administration decided to clear out the hostels.
They also took exception of the VC’s reported comments in Tuesday’s newspapers in which he had said that a police station may be set up on the university campus to monitor students’ activities. The students were of the opinion that such a step would completely destroy the university environment, which they cherish on account of its openness.
One of the expelled students, Najibullah, reiterated that the students wanted a peaceful end to the stand-off but complained that the administration and the VC in particular appeared to have made this an ego problem. Therefore, intervention by the district administration may be the only way to resolve this matter in an unbiased way, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2012.