ISLAMABAD: The board of trustees (BoT) of International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) on Monday directed the management of the university to immediately remove a vice president (VP) and an assistant director from their positions.

The BoT meeting with President Dr Arif Alvi in the chair was attended by national and international members, including Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa. The meeting was supposed to take several issues but due to shortage of time only few of them were discussed.

The meeting discussed the role of the VP administration and finance Professor Dr Nabi Bux Jumani, who had been asked by the CJP to furnish details about the IIUI, but he failed to do so until President Alvi’s intervention.

The meeting directed the IIUI to remove the VP from his position immediately as there were several complaints against him.

No other agenda item taken up by board of trustees due to time constraints

The meeting also discussed the role of contractual Assistant Director Al Hasan Haroon, who is said to be a close confidant of the IIUI management and unofficially was involved in all major decisions taken by the university.

On his request, the FIA on Friday also raided the university’s premises and confiscated two mobile phones from an employee, which were returned later after intervention of a federal minister.

The FIA raided the campus following a complaint lodged by Mr Haroon against the employee, Hasan Shabbir Mir, for allegedly harassing him on social media. Mr Mir at the BoT meeting narrated how he was allegedly harassed by the FIA on Friday.

Meanwhile, an associate professor of Management Sciences also approached the BoT and alleged that the assistant director had been interfering in the affairs of women campus as well.

Interestingly, IIUI Rector Prof Dr Samina Malik did not contradict the allegation of the associate professor.

The BoT members expressed concerns and said it seemed the VP and the assistant director were calling the shots at the university. The BoT members said there were allegations against both the officials on social media; therefore, a proper inquiry should be held against them. Mr Jumani was appointed three years ago on a temporary basis and, like many other VPs, had been serving on the basis of a notification.

The BoT is the main policy-making forum of the university and according to the IIUI ordinance it must hold its meeting at least once in year. But after June 2020, no BoT meeting was held.

Some officials said the management of the IIUI in order to avoid questions related to temporary appointments mainly of VPs avoided holding the meeting of the BoT on time.

Similarly, during the last BoT meeting, it was decided that in future the president of the university will be appointed on merit through a competitive process and the IIUI was directed to frame rules for it. But no rules were framed and this agenda item could not be taken up in the meeting.

Sources said the BoT directed the IIUI to furnish comprehensive answers to all issues, including temporary appointments.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2023