KARACHI, Jan 25: The decision of the director of the Abdul Qadeer Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Dr Qasim Mehdi, to sell certain books, journals and periodicals donated by some British libraries has evoked an outcry from the staff of the Karachi University, with which the institute is associated.

Reportedly, Dr Mehdi sold the reading material piled on five trucks two days ago to a pawn hawker (kabaria) for Rs7.5 a kilo.

The president of the Karachi University Teachers’ Society (Kuts) expressed his concern over the matter while KUTS secretary Prof Dr Abid Hasnain told Dawn that “the vice-chancellor called the director of the institute to clarify his position. The director said that the journals were nothing but a useless heap of paper that occupied a lot of space. He claimed that the material was nothing but heaps of waste that had been spoilt by rainwater that had seeped into the underground room where they were being stored.” However, Dr Hasnain pointed out, the director had no right whatsoever to sell university property and to extract money out of such sales.

KUTS office-bearers maintained that by the time they learnt about the incident, five trucks loaded with journals and research papers etc had already left the premises. The vice-chancellor of the university was informed about the situation by KUTS office-bearers, who also lodged complaints about Dr Mehdi’s “insulting attitude” towards his teaching and non-teaching staff. Despite a number of attempts made by Dawn, Dr Mehdi was not available for comments.