Mumtaz was accused of sexually harassing students in 2009. PHOTO: FILE
The Quaid-i-Azam University’s (QAU) syndicate on Thursday terminated the services of a professor accused of sexual harassment and constituted a second committee to investigate allegations against another.
According to sources, Dr Abdul Samad Mumtaz, assistant professor at the department of Plant Sciences, was accused of harassing his students. This is not the first time sexual harassment charges have been levelled against him. The second professor, Dr Inamullah Laghari of the anthropology department, was accused by a student earlier this year of sexually harassing her while supervising her thesis.
Regarding Mumtaz’s case, the members were of the view that since this was the second time he has been accused of this “shameful and intolerable” act, his services should be terminated. The members unanimously decided to abide by recommendations of the Committee for Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace which called for terminating the services of the professor with immediate effect.
Mumtaz was accused of sexually harassing students in 2009 but as the current law pertaining to workplace harassment was not enacted at the time, he was not punished. A senior member present at the meeting told The Express Tribune that Mumtaz was given a chance to clear his name but he failed to do so.
Syndicate members found procedural requirements had not been fulfilled by a committee formed earlier to probe Laghari’s case. “According to the law, when a witness testifies against someone in case of harassment, the accused should be present, but this was not the case with Laghari,” said a source.
Laghari had critcised some of the findings of the harassment committee and requested a review. The syndicate constituted another committee comprising of two senior most professors of the university and one from outside to look into the details and critically analyse the issue. It has been directed to submit a report with the syndicate as soon as possible.
In the previous syndicate meeting held on July 8, show-cause notices were issued to the professors to appear before the body in its next sitting. Both appeared before the syndicate.
The QAU administration had removed two professors in July 2011. The controller examination was retired for a molestation attempt and an IT professor was removed following sexual harassment complaints.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2013.
COMMENTS (24)
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Our society is becoming like an Indian society, where rape and sexual harassment is as common as match box available in every shop. Main factor is Movie and cinematography. Media is playing a vital role in spreading vulgarity. After watching feeling provoke. Secondly women fashion is greatly helping to spoil society. Women are requested to wear heejab and veil their faces. these type of activity will definitely be uncontrolled.
It is important issue for us for all pakistani nation.
if chiefminister of punjab proper investigate univeristies teacher 98% involve in shame fully activity shame on these stupid teacher.when i was student of univeristy in 96 3 to 5 prof involve openly involve in sexual harassment butt now days 98% junior teacher and prof involve in sex activity due to no law.i know many stupid prof which are involve in this type activity under the supervision of vc.stop stop please cm sb.
@doom: I meant there should be clarity! Some details have to be shared especially about the part where the professor was given the chance but he wasn't able to clear his name. What transpired in that meeting. Surely someone must have taken the minutes.
Imagine I was in his place, imagine I am innocent, then what would befall on my family? Can you comprehend the repurcussions? It would mean suicide on my part.
And please I have a wife, sister and mother. Inshallah I will have daughters too. So dont get me wrong. Such news must have depth! Not for pleasure-reading but explaining the context.
It is important to take legal action against such criminal and immoral acts. Teaching is not only giving information of knowledge but it is forming the person through knowledge and research. Brave our girls who had the courage to tell the truth to the higher authorities. The same should happen in the schools and Madrassa's where unfrotunately happens the same but our children are too afraid to speak and get their lives spoiled.
We are talking about sexual harassment ?
The ugly truth is that our societies have been corrupt for a few decades now.
Otherwise indecent or immoral sexual advances take place all the time almost every second place.
Western media has fed us lots of garbage and now the advanced Indian film industry is doing the rest.
We need to realize and re-juvenate our social moral values. Otherwise we will end up like the West where only law can be invoked to gain ones human rights rather than having trust in social/national moralities.
When every individual in society will know what is expected of him/her , then no one will try such mis-deeds.
Otherwise every other person sees non-marital romances and relationships everywhere around , so it is assumed that one should make advancement in order to capitalize.
"Justice delayed, is justice denied." When the acts of sexual harassment were committed in 2009, why has he been fired in 2013? If the concerned legislation has been enacted only recently he could easily have been fired over a committee investigation report and terminated at that time. This delay is unpardonable and the courts of law will always support such cases against a perpetrator when evidence is available. In fact, the professors should have been severely dealt with by the students themselves because the administration, committees, and courts, take too long in arriving at a decision to proceed against a criminal. Salams
Individual made as a Scapegoat in order to hide the reality. The report is unclear on the type of harassment. The term sexual harassment is misleading it should be gender harassment or sexual molestation. Both types exist in our society. For any sexual molestation evidence and witnesses are a must for any investigation. Did the professor get that opportunity. Was he caught? Or just been penalised on the basis of some testimonials?
@Ibrahim Kakar, ET should print his picture too so no one else would even think of doing such act and disrespect this noble profession.
At least the reporter should not have mentioned his name.the spirit of journalism needed it.
I could not make head or tale of what this Phd student of great Karachi University wrote . Where is the moderator ?
A teacher is like a father to a student.What type of father is he.
This reminds me of my time in the late 80's at NED university of Karachi where a certain teacher would be extra stern with any female student. Although he did not sexually harass anyone to my knowledge but obtained a lot of pleasure by mentally torturing female students during their viva exams. I remember almost every girl walking out of his office after the oral exam crying her eyes out. What a stupid sadistic tool he was.
@SH: Is it not enough to know that two different men were accused, one of them at two different times, so at least 3 different women accused them, who went to the university years apart. And yet you want all the victims investigated with the presumption that they must all be liars? And the men must be poor helpless victims of lying women again and again? And the different committees who reviewed the different cases must be fools?
can i see the pic of the hunk?
I am a student of PhD in University of Karachi and I know many professors who sexually harass students last year a blink Professor from Urdu department was face the same charges of harassment but the syndicate put him on administrative job rather than sacking because he have connections with the political party.
These 'teachers' put shame on Pakistan's education system. They should be prosecuted.
@UZA SYED... to answer your first question...the professor was not tried by the law retrospectively but he was tried for NEW crimes that he committed after the law was passed. Hope this helps.
Why not? If everything, (investigation etc;) done, in accordance with law of the land operative at the time of alleged crime committed, then, by all means their names, professors or not, must be made public. This is the only way that we can expose and make example of these horrible characters behind the mask of various position of respect and honour in our society.
Was it necessary to give name of the professor? What about the students who levelled the allegations? When we have become so open and outright about publishing such news, maybe the newspaper should dig deep a bit further and also mention what kind of allegations were levelled against the teacher. I have hated some of my teachers, some of friends have gone as far as breaking the windscreens of a teacher's car - and we were in school then. Every news has another side of the story!
These sort of incidents are increasing in our society and the reason is the increasing so called liberalism and secularism that teaches the freedom of expression and living for every individual which culminates in the incidents we cannot bear to have in our environment. The problem behind it is the question of the day, why we should expect him not to do so?
If some act / behaviour allegedly took place sometimes in the past when there were no laws defining it as a criminal offence then can a new law be applied / be operative with respect to past occurrences, I suspect one can't hold people responsible retroactively. Can someone help clarify this my curiousity is independent of the alleged crimes of the accused parties here.
Shame on these stupid teachers.
Fired? He should be jailed and tried for his acts.