KARACHI: Withdrawal of teachers’ sacking order demanded
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, April 14: The ongoing protest by teachers of the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology on the issue of suspension of a senior teacher got further momentum on Thursday when students and non-teaching staff of the institutions as well as teachers from other institutions accorded support to it.
The university administration on Wednesday night had declared the closure of its campuses for three days, but a number of students, non-teaching staff and teachers turned up at the university on Thursday. A number of them expressed concern over the administrative action of placing an associate professor Syed Asghar Ali under suspension and held that the decision to close the varsity for three days was an uncalled for one.
Examinations of law papers of the university also could not be held on Thursday. The controller of examination issued a revised schedule in the wake of suspension of BL first and second year examinations.
Different bills and banners posted at the Gulshan-i-Iqbal campus gate of FUU called for unity among the teaching and non-teaching staff and continued protest till the withdrawal of suspension order for the said teacher who according to administrative sources, has been subjected to disciplinary measures in the light of findings and recommendations of an inquiry committee constituted by the then “chief-administrator” of the varsity about a year back.
During the demonstration, speakers held that the university affairs were not being run by the custodians of the university, but by certain bigwigs from outside, who wanted to get rid of some of the staff and students’ groups. Protestors staged sit-in at the University Road for sometime and demanded for freeing the university from external pressures and withdrawal of the suspension order.
A couple of university teachers said if the administration had got something against the teacher in question it should have settled the issue much earlier
The teacher is alleged of using harsh or improper language in his letter to varsity’s senate members, said one of the teacher.
Insiders said that the administration and teachers representatives on Wednesday had reached to a consensus in regard to withdrawal of the suspension order issued by the vice-chancellor, but why the negotiation remained futile, it was yet to be known.
Talking to Dawn on Thursday at his office, FUU Vice-Chancellor Dr Syed Iqbal Mohsin said that his doors were open for talks with the teachers and he was ready to try other options as well for a peaceful settlement.
He said that the action against the associate professor was part of a disciplinary process and if he (the teacher) did not find any thing right or satisfying about his show-cause then he could go for an appeal as well.
In another development, some of the FUU teachers met the secretary of the Karachi University Teachers’ Society (KUTS), Sarwar Nasim, and talked to him on the issue of “suspension of teacher”.
In the meantime, the president of KUTS, Dr Sohail Barkati and Sarwar Nasim, in a statement expressed concern over the suspension of Syed Asghar Ali and demanded immediate withdrawal of the order. They said that the teaching community of the KU supported the just cause of teachers of the university.
They observed that outside interference into the varsity affairs had resulted in the present crisis on the campus. All disputes between the administration and the teachers should be solved through dialogue, they added.
According to a source on the FUU campus, a meeting between the teachers and the vice-chancellor was also held on Thursday evening, which remained inconclusive.
According to FUU notification, the postponed papers of BL (First year) of April 14 and April 16 will now be held on April 19 and 21 respectively, while the papers of second year BL of April 15 will be held on April 23.
