LAHORE, July 27: The Punjab University Academic Staff Association has warned the government to withdraw the show-cause notice it had issued to Mass Communication Department Associate Prof Dr Mujahid Mansoori for a column otherwise it will boycott the Senate meeting which will be held on August 1 after about three years.

In a general body meeting here on Wednesday, it said it would also observe one-day token strike if the government failed to meet its demand. More than 25 members attended the meeting.

The Governor’s Secretariat had directed the PU vice-chancellor to ask Dr Mansoori to give reasons for violating the varsity rules and explain why he should not be proceeded against under the Punjab Removal from Service Ordinance (special powers) 2000.

PUASA president and general secretary Prof Dr Haris Rashid and Dr Mehr Akhtar Saeed said the teachers community would go to any extent to ensure freedom of expression.

They said serving a notice to Dr Mansoori was not the issue of a single teacher but the whole community. It was the right of the teachers to write freely on the government policies, they added.

They also appreciated the role of APNS and CPNE in this regard.

Prof Dr Mazhar Moin said Dr Mansoori’s victimization was a test case and the government wanted to see the teachers’ reaction. The case had brought all teachers’ bodies on one platform and they (teachers) had achieved a lot from this unlawful act.

Prof Dr Shafique Jallundhry said the Musharraf government had given “required freedom to express” and the move seemed to be a conspiracy against it.

Dr Mansoori said he was disappointed over the attitude of vice-chancellor. The VC was responsible for intellectual freedom of the varsity teachers but he had failed to protect it.

Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran, Dr A. R. Khalid, Prof Qammar Abbas, Dr Saeed Nagra, Prof Dr Iftikhar Baloch, Prof Nayyar Raza Zaidi also spoke.

PU registrar Prof Dr Naeem Khan told Dawn that the varsity believed in freedom of expression and was promoting it. He said it was also proud of its teachers for contributing to the newspapers and other journals, however, it was their (teachers) duty to observe code of conduct.

Dr Khan categorically stated that no legal action was being taken against Dr Mansoori.