LAHORE: The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) on Tuesday cancelled a scheduled talk of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s senior leader Asad Umar following a “breach of agreed policy by varsity students”.

The LUMS Law and Politics Society had invited Mr Umar after obtaining permission from the management to speak on his journey from the corporate sector to politics.

However, the management was irked when it saw posters pasted all over the campus that coloured the event more political than an educational one. The management then decided to cancel Mr Umar’s speech.

Meanwhile, the LUMS management also put up an “Apology to Asad Umar from LUMS” on its website.

The apology says the varsity had granted permission in accordance with its long-standing policy that events on campus should be educational and follow a disciplined and rule-governed approach in the pursuit of knowledge.

It says the posters put up all over the campus were not approved by the Student Affairs’ office, wherein this event appeared to have been converted primarily into a political rather than educational event in breach of the agreed policy.

This situation led the management to cancel Mr Umar’s speech.

The LUMS has regretted the inconvenience caused to Mr Umar by the cancellation of the event.

It also says it would have been preferable to contact Mr Umar prior to the cancellation so as to clarify the nature of his speech.

The varsity management says Mr Umar is welcome to come and speak on the LUMS campus any time, albeit in accordance with its policies regarding public events.

Asad Umar has tweeted he was supposed to speak at LUMS on Wednesday at the invitation of Law and Politics Society which was cancelled by the Vice-Chancellor.

“The most ironic part is that I served on the board of trustees of LUMS for five years and now suddenly I am a threat to campus peace,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2014