'FLAWED, flawed, flawed is what we are,' said I last week, utterly exasperated, to the self-styled Maulana Amjad Thanvi, the Alim who sits with me on the NED Syndicate. 'Yes, yes, we are frauds,' retorted the growing-deafer-by-the-day learned man, who dyes his hair black and henna-reds his beard.
Maulana Sahib is now in the process of obtaining an honorary doctorate from the Karachi University and the next time we meet I may well be addressing him as Maulana Doctor Thanvi. He is a pleasant man and claims to be of a progressive bent of mind.
It was in the early 1920s that Sahib Singh Chatur Singh Shahani, the forward-looking principal of Dayaram Jethmal Sind College (established in 1887), made a plea to Jamshed Nusserwanjee: 'Jamshed, get me some funds. It is high time Karachi had a full-fledged engineering college.' Jamshed raised the core money from the four sons of Nadirshaw Eduljee Dinshaw (NED) who had just died - Hoshang, Minocher, Dinshaw, and Faredoon. The Khilanani family and the Hindustan Construction Company of the Birlas made up the deficit and the NED college was established. After Pakistan came into being, the college finally evolved, in March 1977, into a university of engineering and technology.
The college was a highly rated establishment until, as with this country and all its institutions it was hit by the general downslide and the substantial overall deterioration. The rot was stemmed in December 1996 when Engineer Abul Kalam was appointed vice-chancellor. He found upon his plate, awaiting him, the case of 64 students who had been fraudulently passed in their examinations, not just once, but several times as they had been allowed to take and retake their exams.
Kalam asked the chancellor, Sindh Governor Kamal Azfar, to hold an inquiry. The chancellor appointed me to so do in my capacity as a member of the Syndicate. Exercising abundant caution, I asked Kalam to have the written papers of the 64 reassessed by an independent engineer. This he did, appointing Engineering Doctor Shahid Alam. Alam failed the lot.
Mr report to Chancellor Azfar was sent on February 16, 1997;
Subject: 'Fraud: The case of NED students.... incapable of passing their examinations who were allowed to appear again and again until it was contrived to give them pass marks. You have asked me to hold an inquiry into this sordid affair, which I have done...'Under pressure, or under instructions, the former vice-chancellor, Professor A.Q. Qazi, engineered to have passed certain students who were not eligible to be passed.
The Chancellor, averse to any decision-taking which may ruffle his placid feathers, wriggled out of it by asking his nominee on the Syndicate to quietly tell Kalam to ignore my report and do nothing. The matter dragged on and the 64 petitioned the Sindh High Court. They were heard by Chief Justice Wajihuddin Ahmad and Justice Roshan Isani. Wajih knew his onions. He took the decision to remand the matter back to the Syndicate.
When a member retabled the matter at a Syndicate meeting, the majority was persuaded to resolve that the degree certificates be issued to the 64 who had been fraudulently passed.
On December 23, 1998 I wrote to Lt-General Moinuddin Haider, Azfar's successor as Chancellor of NED University and Governor of Sindh:
'By a process of manipulation, the majority of the NED Syndicate members have managed to resolve that degree certificates be issued to those fraudulently passed. The vice-chancellor and the minority (which includes me) do not wish to be a party to the fraud.
'I am sure that you too would not like to be a party to fraud. It is time you intervened and annulled the relevant resolution under the powers vested in you in terms of Section 25(1) of the NED University Act. Until the matter has been investigated by you, may I request that you instruct the vice-chancellor not to take any action concerning what has been resolved as recorded under resolution No. 108.4 (c).
'Sent herewith for your information and guidance is a copy of my letter dated 16-2-97 addressed to Chancellor Kamal Azfar concerning this subject.'
Governor Haider took the line of least resistance and slept over the matter. In 1999, it was decided to give these ageing students a refresher course, and to then re-examine them. Fifty-four took the refresher classes and then passed the exams.
Seven who had refused to take the courses and re-examination petitioned the High Court of Sindh. Their case was heard by Justices Hamid Mirza and Shabbir Ahmad who decided that, in terms of the majority decision of the Syndicate, the seven should be passed.
NED then appealed to the Supreme Court where the matter was heard by Justices Nazim Hussain Siddiqui and Abdul Hamid Dogar. Leave to appeal ws refused and the petition dismissed, with the remark. 'The Vice-Chancellor was clearly directed to implement the Syndicate resolutions Nos. 108 and 110. Taking a lenient view, we are not issuing contempt notices to those who passed the resolution No. 115.6 but warn them to be careful in future.'Kalam had no choice but to give the degrees, which he sadly and with much disgust did, noting upon the certificates: 'Degree awarded in compliance with Sindh High Court decision dated 22-2-2000 on CP D-42 of 1999.
The seven went to their advocate who on 16/1/01 sent a notice to the vice-chancellor and the Registrar: 'You are, therefore, called upon through this notice to issue the degree to my client... without any remarks failing which my clients will be left with no option but to approach both the Hon'ble Courts for appropriate contempt proceedings...'
An emergency meeting of the Syndicate was called on 23/1/01. Thirteen attended. Twelve of us resolved that we approve of the action taken by the vice-chancellor in issuing the degrees with his notation. One member involved in the original fraud, naturally dissented. What are we supposed to do? Resign and go sailing? Or press on and attempt to resist blatant mischievous wrongdoing? Should men such as the seven be allowed to work as structural engineers, unqualified to construct buildings, bridges, etc, which with the slightest earth tremor can fall and kill?