PU teachers divided over acting VC appointment

LAHORE

Punjab University (PU) teachers have divided over assigning of ‘look after’ charge of Vice-Chancellor to Dr Mujahid Kamran.While some teachers staged a peaceful demonstration on The Mall near the Punjab Assembly against the ‘acting VC’ on Monday, others gathered at PU New Campus in his support lauding the Punjab government’s decision.   

The protesting teachers on The Mall announced launching ‘PU Save Movement’ and observed that they would continue protests until the rules were followed and the senior most professor was appointed as the acting VC.

They claimed that the Higher Education Department (HED) had forwarded the summary of senior most professor, Dr Taqi Zahid Butt, to be appointed as acting VC; however, CM Office allegedly unlawfully forwarded the name of Dr Mujahid Kamran to Governor/Chancellor to be appointed as acting VC. 

PU Syndicate member Javed Sami, Shumaila Gull, Law College faculty member Samee Uzair, Dr Shahbaz Cheema, former member Syndicate Dr Ismatuallah along with other colleagues participated in the demo.

The teachers also shared the copies of the summary forwarded by the HED to the CM. “It is the policy of the chief minister to take decisions on merit. Punjab University is the largest university in the province. It should have a VC on merit and not the one who is allegedly facing inquiries in National Accountability Bureau (NAB),” they added.

“We have come out on roads to protect this prestigious institute for our coming generations and we hope that the CM will remove Mujahid Kamran as acting VC,” they said.

They also alleged that Dr Mujahid Kamran was allegedly using Academic Staff Association (ASA) for his personal gains saying the tenure of ASA expired in December and this illegal body was now supporting illegally appointed VC. 

Meanwhile, the Punjab University Academic Staff Association (ASA) addressed a press conference in support of Dr Mujahid Kamran’s appointment as acting vice-chancellor by the chief minister and the governor recognising his services for the promotion of research and merit besides making the university apolitical.

The press conference held at the University Club here Monday was addressed by ASA President Hassan Mobin Alam, Vice-President Dr Abid Hussain Ch, Secretary Dr Mahboob Hussain along with other elected representatives of the teachers.

The ASA leaders said due to the leadership and research friendly policies of Dr Mujahid Kamran the international ranking of PU improved and many well-reputed organisations of the world admitted that the research and academic standard of PU was fast improving. They also ranked PU number one among public sector universities of the country. ASA leaders said that PU teachers’ elected representatives had welcomed the decision of CM and governor to appoint Dr Mujahid Kamran as acting VC while terming this decision ‘very good’ for the continuation of the policies.

The ASA leaders said a few teachers belonging to a particular group staged a protest against Dr Mujahid only because they had their personal agendas. “These elements have been rejected by the PU teacher community because they lost election due to their unpopular political activities and conspiracies”, they added.   

ASA leaders, the elected representatives, demanded the chief minister to ignore such rejected elements who always remain involved in negative politics instead of performing their assigned duties. They said that thousands of PU teachers had welcomed CM’s decision and were very happy.