KARACHI: Senior teachers of Karachi University (KU) have severely criticised the decision under which the administration has cancelled the admission of a student on Monday and barred another from entering the campus as a punishment for inviting model Ayyan Ali to the university over a month ago.

The decision, they said, was “highly unfair” and based on “penalising the most vulnerable”, which in this case were the students.

There was also criticism of the KU administration for not taking action against the officials concerned directly under whose noses security was breached and the model arrived at the campus with her armed guards.

According to the press statement, Araib Khan, postgraduate diploma student at the Department of Public Administration (DPA) and Abdullah Rizwan Shaikh, former DPA student, were found guilty of damaging the prestige of the department and the university by the disciplinary committee.

“Therefore, the admission of Araib Ali has been cancelled and in future both students are not allowed to take admissions in any course or department of the university. The entry of Abdullah Rizwan Shaikh into the campus is also banned,” says the university statement.

Speaking to Dawn, university teachers described the university decision as “extremely unjust” and “an attempt to seek public attention”.

“If the university can have an NRO-tainted chancellor and award an honorary doctorate degree to [former federal interior minister] Rehman Malik, why can’t students invite a chief guest who has been released on bail,” asked Dr Shakeel Farooqi, senior KU teacher and member of the executive body of Karachi University Teachers Society (Kuts).

It was unjustifiable on the part of the university, he said, to deprive a student of an opportunity to earn a degree. “And that, too, when the university offers no rehabilitation programme for students,” he noted.

Reacting to the KU decision, Dr Riaz Ahmed of the university’s Applied Chemistry department said: “What happened was unjust and unfortunate. The model hasn’t been convicted yet and even if she is, her presence did not cause any harm to the campus. There is something called academic freedom that universities enjoy all over the world and they sometimes invite speakers who are shunned by society.”

A university plagued with corruption, nepotism and other ills had no moral grounds to take action against students for simply inviting a speaker, he argued.

President of Kuts Jamil Hasan Kazmi, however, defended the decision and said students had been punished because they didn’t take permission from the university for inviting a guest.

“The departmental chairman was not aware of her arrival. As for security officials, they have been removed from their original posts and appointed elsewhere,” he said.

It may be recalled that model Ayyan was involved in currency smuggling case and was invited by DPA students in August to inaugurate a fast food joint, part of its revenue was to be donated to the disabled.

Published in Dawn, October 6th , 2015

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