Students of the Havelian campus of Hazara University continued boycotting their classes on Friday for the third consecutive day in protest against the transfer of heads of departments. The students threatened to block the Karakorum Highway if their demands were not met.
Havelian campus officials said in the last few days, (acting) Vice Chancellor Dr Suhail Shehzad appointed new heads of departments, replacing sitting ones from the departments of management sciences, economics, Pakistan studies and mathematics. Those replaced had been doing their job for at least the last four years to the satisfaction of the students and university management, added university insiders. The newly-posted heads are junior in rank, they claimed. This is why students are against the vice chancellor’s decision, said the affected people.
Students of seven departments, except the pharmacy department, boycotted classes and took out a procession to pressurize the vice chancellor into reversing his order.
A student told The Express Tribune that Dr Sultan, a senior teacher with a PhD, had been heading the Pakistan Studies department for six years. Dr Sultan was transferred to bring in a teacher who had just enrolled in the history department for an MPhil.
Likewise, teachers with lesser qualifications have replaced seniors in other departments.
Another student accused the vice chancellor of being biased and appointing the new department heads based on “their language skills”. Citing the example of Havelian Campus Acting Assistant Registrar Asif Suhail, the student said the registrar was originally appointed as an administrative assistant but has now been given the charge of an assistant registrar. This is also a violation of rules, added the student.
Since the campus has been declared a full-fledged university and paper work was to be completed within weeks, the acting vice chancellor was trying to bring in his people by violating the standards of merit and experience, alleged the student.
Protesters said they would continue with the strike unless their demands were met.
University status
Havelian campus of the university was started about six years ago with two departments and only a few students. Today, there are 1,200 students in eight departments. Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairperson Imran Khan announced the campus would become a full-fledged university at a recent trip there.
When approached for comments, Campus Coordinator Dr Ayub Jadoon and Vice Chancellor Shehzad were not available. According to clerical staff, Jadoon and Shehzad were out to attend official meetings.
An official accused politicians of taking advantage of students. He said all transfers and postings at the university were standard procedure and rules were followed for the new department heads’ appointment.
Minister for Higher Education Mushtaq Ghani, who also belongs to Abbottabad, has taken notice and has asked the vice chancellor to bring the situation under control.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 20th, 2014.
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