PESHAWAR: Seven months after the kidnapping of Islamia College University Vice-Chancellor (VC) Ajmal Khan, the authorities concerned could neither take effective measures to recover the head of the highest seat of learning nor could they appoint an acting head of the university for its proper functioning.
Pledges and demands were renewed both regarding the safe recovery of the kidnapped VC and having an acting administrative head of the university after the appointment of Masood Kausar as new governor of the province exactly one month ago.
But nothing material could be seen so far even after the noted lawyer took oath as governor, chancellor of public sector universities and federal government’s representative to oversee the affairs of the tribal areas.
It has been the persistent demand of the teachers, other employees and students of all the universities and other educational institutions that sincere efforts should be made to ensure safe recovery of the vice-chancellor.
The Class-III and Class-IV employees of the Islamia College held the longest protest camp and duty boycott in the universities’ history to press the authorities to expedite the struggle for recovery of the vice-chancellor, but to no avail.
The representative bodies of the teachers have also been pressing the government to ensure safe recovery of the academician. The Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (Fapuasa) in its general body meeting held at the Agricultural University here a few days ago threatened to launch a countrywide strike at the public universities if proper measures were not adopted to make sure safe recovery of the vice-chancellor.
The government and the law-enforcing agencies too have made several claims of reaching very close to the recovery of Ajmal Khan, who happens to be a close relative of the top leadership of the ruling Awami National Party, but no claim could prove true.
The militants have released four videotapes of the kidnapped VC so far, in which he has been shown appealing the quarters concerned to make serious attempts for his recovery. The VC was kidnapped near his house at the Professor’s Colony in the close vicinity of the university campus on September 7 last year.
The kidnapping also badly affected the smooth functioning of the university, as the authorities failed to appoint an acting administrative head of the institution. All the demands of the university’s employees for appointment of the acting vice-chancellor have so far fallen on deaf ears. The teaching staff association of the university made a fresh demand of the incumbent chancellor after he took oath as governor to appoint an acting vice-chancellor, which is yet to be fulfilled.
The teaching staff in a letter to the governor stated that since the tragic kidnapping of the VC, Islamia College University has been immensely suffering due to the absence of acting head. “We are utterly at a loss as to why the higher authorities have failed to appoint an acting vice-chancellor despite a very clear Section in the University Act 2009,” the letter stated.
The Act says: “At any time when the office of the vice-chancellor is vacant, or the vice-chancellor is absent or unable to perform the functions of his office due to illness or some other cause, the chancellor may appoint the senior most dean/officer of the university to officiate as vice-chancellor.”
Despite these clear instructions, the former governor tried to appoint a junior professor as acting vice-chancellor, which was vehemently opposed by the senior faculty members of the university forcing the then chancellor to take his decision back. However, the university was left working without a head, a senior professor of the university told The News.
“Even now some junior professors and even associate professors are trying to win the sympathy of the chancellor so that they could be appointed as acting head of the university,” he said.
The teaching staff association in their letter to the governor clearly mentioned that there was no room of appointing any other person that the senior most dean/officer as acting or officiating vice-chancellor.
The News
Pledges and demands were renewed both regarding the safe recovery of the kidnapped VC and having an acting administrative head of the university after the appointment of Masood Kausar as new governor of the province exactly one month ago.
But nothing material could be seen so far even after the noted lawyer took oath as governor, chancellor of public sector universities and federal government’s representative to oversee the affairs of the tribal areas.
It has been the persistent demand of the teachers, other employees and students of all the universities and other educational institutions that sincere efforts should be made to ensure safe recovery of the vice-chancellor.
The Class-III and Class-IV employees of the Islamia College held the longest protest camp and duty boycott in the universities’ history to press the authorities to expedite the struggle for recovery of the vice-chancellor, but to no avail.
The representative bodies of the teachers have also been pressing the government to ensure safe recovery of the academician. The Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (Fapuasa) in its general body meeting held at the Agricultural University here a few days ago threatened to launch a countrywide strike at the public universities if proper measures were not adopted to make sure safe recovery of the vice-chancellor.
The government and the law-enforcing agencies too have made several claims of reaching very close to the recovery of Ajmal Khan, who happens to be a close relative of the top leadership of the ruling Awami National Party, but no claim could prove true.
The militants have released four videotapes of the kidnapped VC so far, in which he has been shown appealing the quarters concerned to make serious attempts for his recovery. The VC was kidnapped near his house at the Professor’s Colony in the close vicinity of the university campus on September 7 last year.
The kidnapping also badly affected the smooth functioning of the university, as the authorities failed to appoint an acting administrative head of the institution. All the demands of the university’s employees for appointment of the acting vice-chancellor have so far fallen on deaf ears. The teaching staff association of the university made a fresh demand of the incumbent chancellor after he took oath as governor to appoint an acting vice-chancellor, which is yet to be fulfilled.
The teaching staff in a letter to the governor stated that since the tragic kidnapping of the VC, Islamia College University has been immensely suffering due to the absence of acting head. “We are utterly at a loss as to why the higher authorities have failed to appoint an acting vice-chancellor despite a very clear Section in the University Act 2009,” the letter stated.
The Act says: “At any time when the office of the vice-chancellor is vacant, or the vice-chancellor is absent or unable to perform the functions of his office due to illness or some other cause, the chancellor may appoint the senior most dean/officer of the university to officiate as vice-chancellor.”
Despite these clear instructions, the former governor tried to appoint a junior professor as acting vice-chancellor, which was vehemently opposed by the senior faculty members of the university forcing the then chancellor to take his decision back. However, the university was left working without a head, a senior professor of the university told The News.
“Even now some junior professors and even associate professors are trying to win the sympathy of the chancellor so that they could be appointed as acting head of the university,” he said.
The teaching staff association in their letter to the governor clearly mentioned that there was no room of appointing any other person that the senior most dean/officer as acting or officiating vice-chancellor.
The News
