PESHAWAR, Jan 11: Students and teachers of the University of Peshawar have expressed concern over the appointment of Lt-Gen Mumtaz Gul (retired) as vice-chancellor , saying the varsity needed the services of an academician to set things right.

Talking to Dawn, a teacher of the Department of International Relations, said that running the university's affairs was the job of the experts and the army general didn't know about the functioning and role of different bodies and departments.

"The last vice-chancellor, though a professor, had also been appointed in violation of rules, because he ranked 46 on the seniority list," said the teacher. He said there were different bodies, such as syndicate and the senate, about which nobody knew except the university's professors, who had been on the campus for decades.

Students of various departments, showed their anguish over the appointment of a retired army general as vice-chancellor and said that the varsity, which had incurred huge losses in terms of academic progress in the last three years, was destined to suffer more.

"Many student organizations have already launched protest demonstrations against the appointment, which would cause unrest on the campus," said a student of the English Department. He said that the students wanted a senior professor as VC, so they could talk to him/her freely.

Whereas the army generals have become signs of terror for the students, who could not dare to speak before them, he said, adding that even if he (the VC) gave a receptive ear regarding any problem, then he was bereft of offering any solution, owing to his lack of acquaintance with the administrative problems.

Another teacher remarked that the VC was surrounded by the same old stunts who had been catapulted to higher posts in violation of rules by the former VC, who would not like the incumbent to set things in right direction. For fear of losing their posts, they would naturally misguide the VC, he said.

"The appointment of the army general as VC shows that the governor has no trust in the teachers to appoint one of them on the prestigious post. This has caused resentment among the teaching community," a teacher lamented.

"We feel a deep sense of disrespect at this appointment. The university has been running by the senior professors as VCs over the years. Then, which factors prompted the governor to appoint an outsider as VC and ignore those who have given the their precious years to the varsity," a senior professor, said.