Leave ends, protests begin: SU staff warns of resuming strike if Mughal returns as VC
Mughal was sent on forced leave when the teaching boycott had completed.
HYDERABAD:
The Sindh University teachers and staff warned that they would restart their academic boycott if the vice chancellor (VC), Nazir A Mughal, reappeared at the campus.
Mughal was sent on forced leave in late February when the teaching boycott had completed over 50 days following Prof. Bashir Channar’s murder. His departure came after the teachers’ protests, who demanded his permanent removal while accusing him of corruption, highhandedness and Channar’s murder.
However, Mughal’s leave will expire on June 30 and the SU Teachers Association (SUTA) believes that he is using his ‘contacts’ to get back to his position which is currently being held by an acting VC. The SUTA and Sindh University Employees Welfare Association (SUEWA) observed a token protest by staging a sit-in at the university on Thursday.
SUTA’s President Dr Azhar Ali Shah threatened a complete boycott of all the public sector universities in Sindh. “If Mughal makes any attempts to return, the Sindh universities will go on an indefinite strike in accordance with the resolution passed by the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association,” said Shah who is also the Sindh general secretary of the association.
Shah said the teachers and students have sacrificed their summer vacations to make up for the work missed due to the academic boycott in January and February. Mughal’s return, he added, will squander all these efforts as the teachers and staff will be forced to observe strike.
SUEWA’s President Ghulam Nabi Bhalai said that the two associations have resolved not to allow Mughal in the university.
He requested the Sindh Governor to end the administrative limbo prevailing at the SU, which is functioning without a vice chancellor for the last four months. The employees want a new vice chancellor appointed on merit to replace Mughal
The SUTA and SUEWA announced to hold daily sit-ins at the administrative unit of the university until their demand is accepted.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 29th, 2012.
The Sindh University teachers and staff warned that they would restart their academic boycott if the vice chancellor (VC), Nazir A Mughal, reappeared at the campus.
Mughal was sent on forced leave in late February when the teaching boycott had completed over 50 days following Prof. Bashir Channar’s murder. His departure came after the teachers’ protests, who demanded his permanent removal while accusing him of corruption, highhandedness and Channar’s murder.
However, Mughal’s leave will expire on June 30 and the SU Teachers Association (SUTA) believes that he is using his ‘contacts’ to get back to his position which is currently being held by an acting VC. The SUTA and Sindh University Employees Welfare Association (SUEWA) observed a token protest by staging a sit-in at the university on Thursday.
SUTA’s President Dr Azhar Ali Shah threatened a complete boycott of all the public sector universities in Sindh. “If Mughal makes any attempts to return, the Sindh universities will go on an indefinite strike in accordance with the resolution passed by the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association,” said Shah who is also the Sindh general secretary of the association.
Shah said the teachers and students have sacrificed their summer vacations to make up for the work missed due to the academic boycott in January and February. Mughal’s return, he added, will squander all these efforts as the teachers and staff will be forced to observe strike.
SUEWA’s President Ghulam Nabi Bhalai said that the two associations have resolved not to allow Mughal in the university.
He requested the Sindh Governor to end the administrative limbo prevailing at the SU, which is functioning without a vice chancellor for the last four months. The employees want a new vice chancellor appointed on merit to replace Mughal
The SUTA and SUEWA announced to hold daily sit-ins at the administrative unit of the university until their demand is accepted.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 29th, 2012.