PESHAWAR: The University of Peshawar has formed a three-member committee to investigate the alleged manhandling of journalism and mass communication department’s chairman by the director sports of the varsity and his subordinates on January 13.

The employees of the sports directorate had manhandled the department’s chairman Dr Faizullah Jan apparently over his complaints about the directorate’s encroachments on the journalism department’s premises.

Directorate of sports and the department of journalism and mass communication are situated adjacent to each other on the varsity campus.

UoP Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohammad Idress told Dawn that the varsity had formed a three-member committee headed by the special secretary of the higher education department to investigate the incident. He added that a member of the university’s syndicate and a deputy secretary of the finance department would be its members.

Dr Idress said that the committee had been tasked with submitting its report to the varsity within a fortnight.

However, Dr Faizullah Jan told Dawn that the committee had not been assigned the terms of reference for the investigation; rather, it had been given the task to inquire into the incident in light of the complaints submitted to the varsity by him and the director sports.

He alleged that the directorate of sports had dumped construction material and tree trunks on the journalism department’s backside over the past few months. He said that during the last rain spell, rainwater entered in the department’s offices and classrooms.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2022