HYDERABAD: The Sindh Professors Lecturers Association (SPLA) has been embroiled in an election controversy since 2012 and continues to remain so.

Once again one of the SPLA groups has announced election schedule whereas the other group has appointed a committee and set a 15-day deadline to resolve the issues amicably failing which legal appointment of an administrator would be sought through court.

SPLA – an effective representative body of college teachers and lecturers – came into being in 1989 and before that it was Sindh Lecturers Association that used to work for teachers’ rights. After its creation, the SPLA has been working for resolving teachers’ issues involving the provincial education department and Sindh government.

It was in 2012 when it witnessed a major election controversy as rival groups headed by Prof Siddique Unnar and Prof Yaqoob Chandio made their claims public simultaneously. Things remained unresolved between the two sides.

Now the Siddique Unnar-led SPLA announced election schedule Aug 16, forming an election committee to supervise electoral process. According to its spokesman Anwar Saghar Kandhro, his side did not recognise the committee formed by the other group. He said elections schedule was intact and would be held accordingly.

“Prof Yaqoob Chandio’s body won only in Benazirabad district in 2012 and they are defeated people,” he said, stating that they (other group) had formed an ‘action committee’ which was unconstitutional. He further explained that the rival group even did not file candidatures of all their candidates on seats. “Present committee formed by them is consisted of retired professors and we don’t recognise it,” he said.

The 15-member committee is headed by Liaquat Aziz — one of the founders of SPLA — with others including Agha Khalid, Ali Akbar Shah, Nazeer Hussain Pathan, Ghulam Sabir, Muzaffar Rizvi and others. It would give its findings by Sept 15.

“Our intention is to bring about reconciliation between us as the government department concerned has not endorsed any of the SPLA ever-since they made their claims in January 2013 of winning elections,” said Yaqoob Chandio, a close associate of Aziz.

He referred to findings of inquiry officer Manzoor Farooqui, proposing appointment of an administrator in May 2014. But the matter had been dragged unnecessarily, he said. “Our committee has those people who had created the SPLA and they can decide things better to settle issues amicably,” he said. Farooqui, he explained, had suggested in his report that bye-laws were not complied with by the rival group.

According to him, the committee is tasked to resolve the dispute by Sept 15, otherwise, legal course for appointment of an administrator through court would be adopted to get elections held.

He said that in view of inquiry officer’s report, either group of the SPLA could announce election schedule, therefore, they would not announce election schedule and the one announced by opponents was quite illegal.

Mr Kandhro said their leadership would not meet the 15-member committee which was illegal. He said the rivals had fled from elections to avoid them.

“The [inquiry] report of Farooqui is biased as he is their friends and that’s why such report was obtained. When the officer visited different colleges, teachers forced him to leave premises,” he said.

He claimed that their body had maintained all accounts and got them audited. So, he said, election schedule was intact.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2014