Internal affairs: HU teachers decry political appointments

Strikes at Havelian, Garden campuses against acting VC’s policies.

MANSEHRA: In protest against staff appointments and promotions, Hazara University’s (HU) Academic Staff Association (ASA) observed strikes on Wednesday in both Garden and Havelian campuses.

“Political meddling and favouritism in the university’s affairs is ruinous,” said ASA President Dr Naseer. “The vice chancellor is appointing people on the basis of their ethnic background rather than their merit.”

Teachers cancelled their classes and other staff members boycotted their routine work in protest against “biased” policies. Chanting slogans against acting VC Sohail Shehzad the protesters took out a procession which started and ended outside the VC’s office after marching on various roads of both campuses.



“The protesting staffers are not only concerned about favouritism but also about how some officers in the administration are working on two posts at a time, depriving eligible teachers and other officers of their rights.” Naseer added selection boards have not met in over a year, paving way for appointments and promotions on the basis of nepotism and political affiliations. Naseer demanded the appointment of a permanent VC on merit, “as the current one is not capable of managing affairs at a university which has thousands of students enrolled across two campuses.”

The VC was not available to comment on the matter, but a senior administrative officer at Garden campus, requesting anonymity, denied the charges levelled against Shehzad.

The officer said a dispute on ethnic grounds is persisting in the university and Naseer is “concerned because he wants to get his acquaintances appointed in the finance department”. However, the officer agreed that selection board meetings have been delayed, adding the VC was not to be held solely responsible for that.

Earlier, students had protested against a similar matter at Havelian campus. They had railed against Shehzad for replacing senior teachers and department heads with new inexperienced ones. The issue of choosing teachers based on ethnic backgrounds had emerged at the time  as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2014.