KARACHI: Financial irregularities and irregularities are on the rise at the South Asian University (SAU) in New Delhi, a joint venture of eight Saarc countries, and India is using the university for its nefarious purposes.
Despite the provision of $8 million by Pakistan, the number of Pakistani students is very low while not a single teacher in the faculty is Pakistani, only one non-teaching employee is a Pakistani who was sent back to Pakistan in 24 hours despite being a permanent employee.
Only 45 Pakistani students have graduated in thelast 10 years. Despite admitting Pakistani students to the university in 2017, visas will not be issued to them, leaving only 11 of Pakistani students.
Due to the ongoing Hindutva wave in India, the ABVP, a student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has opened a branch at the university, causing severe hardship to Muslim students, especially Pakistani students, and sometimes preventing them from praying.
The students studying there told The News that due to the lockdown, the university administration has been forcing them to return to their home countries from last month and their health is not being taken care of. Students say the university has asked them to make their own arrangements, buy return tickets that are available for at least four or five times the normal price. Arrange for a ride to the airport yourself while there are currently about 22 Nepali, 11 Pakistani, 9 Sri Lankan, 75 Afghan and 60 Bangladeshi students on campus and most of them have managed the situation. I have expressed a desire to stay.
He has also appealed to the university administration and the (acting) president, Dr AVS Ramesh Chandra, but has received no response. The university was approved during the 13th Saarc Conference in Dhaka in 2004.
On behalf of Pakistan, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri signed the agreement in which India assured that it would issue non-discriminatory visas to the staff, faculty and students as required, but the situation is quite the opposite.
Visas are not considered for Pakistani students and staff, with 7 quota-based master’s programmes in applied mathematics, biotechnology, computer science, development economics, international relations, law studies and sociology.
Pakistan gets 10% quota which makes 21 students. The quota is also given to students from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan whose quota is 10-4 respectively. For the last two years, the Governing Board of the University has been meeting. He has not been invited and India is trying to get Indians to be appointed as the president of the university and other important posts.
Under the rules, the president of the university and the head of the Governing Board have to take turns in each country, but for the last 10 years, India has been in control.
In alphabetical order, India was followed by Maldives, Nepal and then Pakistan, but India won the Maldives and for the second four-year term after the first President GK Chadha, a female president of operations university, Dr Kavita Sharma. He appointed those who were not even full professors and were retired principals of Hindu colleges. When her term ended last year, she handed over the reins of the post to Senior Vice President Sasanka Perera, who is from Sri Lanka, instead of Indian Chief Liason Officer Dr AVS Ramesh Chandra, who is from the Indian Foreign Office.
Vice President Sasanka Pereira, who was first quietly removed from the scene, and Santosh Panda, the Vice President for Academics, were empowered, which angered Sasanka Perera, who later resigned.
According to the rules, the president, vice president, registrar, director of finance and registrar cannot belong to the same country but all these posts are held by Indians in South Asian University. Director of finance of a famous university in Karachi was also a candidate. He was called to Delhi twice for interview. And the interview was good and long but they were not recruited because they are Pakistani.
AK Malik, Registrar, University of Southasian increased the age limit to 65 years using his position from 8 years and could not extend it again under any circumstances, but illegally got approved by BOG which conflict of interest to 5 years and added another 5 years. He took charge while holding the post of Director Finance for a long time and received Rs1 million separately objection from the office of finance and without any office order.
Pakistan has so far disbursed $7850000 to the South Asian University and is to disburse 5.1 million dollar, while in 2019 only 6 Pakistani students were admitted.
Talking about the war, Pakistani students said that if Saarc University was not shifted to Sri Lanka or Maldives, not a single Pakistani student would be able to enter in the next few years. The students said they had contacted the Pakistan High Commission and Foreign Ministry officials several times to take notice of the matter but no hearing was held. The students said that in the health conference in Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka had proposed to set up a medical university in Colombo, so it would be better to relocate this Saarc university to Sri Lanka and set up a medical department there because Sri Lanka has no political ambitions.
