Punjab University: Anti-harassment committee chair accused of harassment

Assistant prof on deputation says she was removed because she testified in a harassment case against the ICS director.

LAHORE:

An assistant professor who was relieved from the Institute of Communication Studies (ICS) has written to the Punjab University Syndicate accusing the chairman of its anti-harassment committee of harassment and locking her up in his office for several hours.

Lubna Shaheen, who served at the ICS for three months on deputation from a college in Chuna Mandi, also alleged that she had been removed unfairly and sought an inquiry.

In her application, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, Shaheen said that the stated reason for her removal, that she had been absent from classes, was false. The real reason was that she had given witness testimony against a former ICS director in another case, she said.

Dr Ahsan Akhtar Naz was suspended from the post of ICS director on January 21 and an inquiry was launched into allegations that he sexually harassed a female teacher. “I and four other faculty members witnessed the said incident and I signed a witness statement. Out of retaliation, Mr Zakaria Zakir ... called me to his office (on March 1) and ... insulted me and alleged that I was not performing my duties properly,” Shaheen wrote in the application. Dr Zakir is the dean of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences and chairman of the PU Anti-Harassment Committee.

“When I tried to explain my position, Mr Zakir ordered me to get out of his room, saying that a person on deputation doesn’t have the right to explain. Later, I was handed an explanation letter based on the false allegation that I was not attending classes regularly, and that I was involved in ‘other activities’, which were not explained,” she wrote.

Shaheen said that she went to see the dean again a couple of days later, armed with her attendance record, to clear her name. “He (the dean) told his staff to close his room and to detain me there,” she said.

She said that her driver and sister, who had been waiting for her outside the institute, came in to inquire about her and were also detained. She said that she had been kept in the office for some three hours.

On March 4, Shaheen complained to Vice Chancellor Mujahid Kamran about the incident and sought action against him under provisions of the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act. Instead, “I was relieved from my services at PU,” she said.

Shaheen had joined the ICS on December 5, 2012, on deputation for three years. She was relieved of her services on March 5. “So far nobody from the university administration has contacted me,” she told The Express Tribune.

Dr Zakir said that he failed to see how he could be accused of harassment. He said that an employee on deputation could be removed if the institute where she was serving did not want her. He said that the ICS director had been unhappy with Shaheen’s performance and that was why she had been removed.

“She doesn’t know how departments function and has no exposure to university culture. She came on deputation and can be relieved at any time if her performance is not satisfactory,” he said.

“I cannot stop anybody from filing applications. If the incident took place a month ago, why is she writing to Syndicate members now? The Syndicate is the highest statutory body but it cannot look into such things,” he said.

PU Registrar Professor Ras Masood Khan said he wasn’t aware of the application and it was not on the agenda of the Syndicate meeting scheduled for April 6. “Not everything can be discussed in Syndicate meetings. The agenda is decided after much consultation. We will see whether this application can be discussed in the meeting,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2013.