Daggers drawn: Lecturer, PU admin exchange barbs at press conferences

Lecturer claims she was harassed by PU vice-chancellor in 2013

LAHORE: Khujista Rehan, a lecturer at the Punjab University (PU) Law College, and the PU administration exchanged barbs in two back-to-back press conferences organised at Lahore Press Club.

Rehan said the people were suffering due to the antics of the judiciary. She called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and General Raheel Sharif to take notice of cases pending in courts and take action against judges responsible for this. Rehan said Justice Baqir Ali Najfi’s wife had been posted at the PU Health Centre without advertisement. She said Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan had denigrated her and Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Umar Bandial had not taken notice of this. She said PU Vice-Chancellor Mujahid Kamran had close ties with Justice Bandial. Rehan urged Sharif to remove Kamran from his post.

PU Spokesperson Khurram Shahzad rejected her allegations of sexual harassment as ‘baseless.’ He was speaking to reporters later at the Lahore Press Club. Shahzad said she had failed to substantiate her allegations in court. Shahzad said the varsity had suspended disciplinary proceedings against her due to a stay order in her favour.

He said she was trying to garner ‘cheap publicity’ by resorting to blackmail. Shahzad said she was trying to organise a media trial of a sub judice matter. He said Rehan had alleged in 2013 that VC Kamran had harassed her in 2009. Shahzad said she had gone to Australia for eleven months without obtaining ex-Pakistan leave in 2010.

Shahzad said that the case had been discussed in a syndicate meeting in March 2013. He said Rozina Aslam, a syndicate member, had observed that proceeding on leave without approval itself constituted a case of indiscipline. Shahzad said Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik, a representative of the chief justice of the LHC, had endorsed her view.

He said a group of teachers had called on the varsity administration to take notice of her attitude in July 2013. Shahzad said Rehan had levelled the allegation for the first time after a clarification had been sought from her regarding the teachers’ complaint by the varsity’s additional registrar.

He said scores of students had complained against her for not taking classes for years. Shahzad said an inquiry into the matter had revealed that the complaint was genuine. He exhorted the judiciary to take notice of her attempt to defile the sanctity of the institution by levelling false accusations against it.

Hall Council Secretary Imran Javed asserted that Rehan had beaten up a PhD student from the Persian Department. He said she had also snatched the student’s mobile phone.

Javed said the PU administration was probing the matter. He also played an alleged audio recording of Rehan threatening an official in front of reporters. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2015.