APROPOS the March 20 report in Dawn on sexual harassment, in narrating the alleged incident at the Pakistan Study Centre, Dr Navin Haider, while accusing Prof Sahar Ansari, tries to put the blame on me that as acting director I failed to take action against her alleged offender.

To Dawn, she narrated two incidents of harassment. The first was not reported to me. About the second, I don’t have access to the second inquiry committee’s report, so I will not comment on it. The fact is that she came to my office and angrily spoke about a very different matter. Whilst leaving, she said Ansari had made ‘advances towards her’ and that she was going to report it to the VC. Subsequently, I met the VC who decided to refer the case to the inquiry committee. Haider never made a written complaint to me, without which no legal action could be taken.

She also says Ansari has been known to her for decades. He has known me for 30 years, but Haider has also been known to me for 25 years.

At the centre, we don’t take the responsibility for students outside our premises. It was with this background that when a student asked Anwar Shaheen if she could go to a library with Ansari, Shaheen did not recommend it. This was not person-specific advice.

Haider unfortunately says that she wrote a letter, in 2014, to the centre’s board of governors outlining its “corrupt practices”.

The reality is that a board meeting came across her very poor service record. She had not written a single research article, completed her PhD in 22 years, and had not presented a research paper at any conference. Perturbed, the board asked me to write to her. Out of courtesy, I circulated a general note amongst the faculty.

In response, she wrote a six-page letter. The “corrupt practices” cited included my making the centre a “factory of research”. The centre has published 63 books in my 17 years of acting directorship; its research journal Pakistan Perspectives is one of the best journals of Pakistan of social sciences. Haider also called the appointment of three lecturers “favouritism” on my part, although they were appointed on merit through the selection board of Karachi University.

I don’t understand why she relates her professional grievances as her alleged harassment case. Regrettably, Haider has tried to defame her centre, and damage my reputation.

Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmed
Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2018