KARACHI: Vice-Chancellor of Haripur University Dr Anwar-ul-Hassan Gilani convened a meeting of the syndicate just a few days before the end of his tenure to confirm the work done during his three-year tenure. The agenda was also not provided to the members on the time. The report of the Harassment Committee on Harassment was received by the Registrar.
The 26th meeting of the Syndicate will be held on Tuesday at Haripur University in which secretary of the syndicate and acting registrar, Dr Shah Masood Khan, deputy controller, Asghar Ali, admin officer, Muhammad Farooq, director administration, Major retired Iqbal, Professor Qazi Shujaat from Management Sciences, Shujaat, Lecturer Hamid Asmat from IT Department, Associate Professor Ali Raza Gormani from Agriculture Department, Dean of Faculty of Biological Sciences Dr. Shafiqul Rehman, Dean of Faculty of Basic and Applied Sciences Dr. Abid Farid and Pro Vice-Chancellor Dr. Ayub. Apart from Dr. Nighat Shaheen, Principal Professor, Graduate College for Women, Secretary Establishment, Secretary Finance, Secretary HED, High Court Judge, Representative HEC and others will be present.
The agenda of the syndicate meeting will include, among others, interim reports of the two recent incidents of harassment within the university. Earlier, reports from Dr. Sadaf Ayub, Director Administration Major (Retd) Muhammad Iqbal and Principal Prof. Dr. Nighat Shaheen of Government Post Graduate College for Women have been submitted to the Acting Registrar Dr. Shah Masood who will present the meeting as Secretary.
According to the documents obtained, notification number FN: 5 (3) UOH / Reg / Meeting / 2022/059 was issued by the Assistant Registrar (Meeting) in which a 4 member Harassment Inquiry Committee was set up with Convener Director Research and Academic. Dr. Shafiqul Rehman has been made while other members include Associate Professor of Education Department Dr. Sadaf Ayub, Director Administration Major (retd) Muhammad Iqbal, and Principal Professor of Government Post Graduate College for Women Dr. Nighat Shaheen. The convener of the implementation committee, Dr. Abid Farid, was asked to hand over the complete documents of both the harassment cases to the convener of the committee, Dr. Shafiqul Rehman.
The committee was instructed to meet at the office of the convener of the committee, Dr. Shafiqul-ur-Rehman on March 7 at 10 am and submit the report. The committee has summoned the victim student, who revealed that she was forced to take back her complaint.
Regarding the Kashmiri student, the committee has recommended that 4 to 5 mobile numbers be forensic and CDR be taken so that the report can be authenticated as there is a request to withdraw the application from the Kashmiri student like the affected student in the first case. The committee has also recommended the dismissal of Dr. Mutiullah Jan, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics.
Surprisingly, Dr. Abid Farid, who had a neutral attitude, was not included in the committee as he had started an impartial inquiry into Dr. Amjad Khan on the complaint of a Kashmiri student in the previous committee. Anwar-ul-Hassan Gilani had removed him from the committee.
It is learned that after the letter written to Kashmala Tariq, the ombudsman for harassment of female students, the ombudsman wrote a letter to the Higher Education Commission seeking further clarification, after which the commission asked the Vice-Chancellor of Haripur University. There are reports of harassment report being called for by March 14.
On the other hand, the parents of female students studying in Haripur University fear that in a letter written to Kashmala Tariq, the federal ombudsman for harassment of female students, Dr. Shah Masood was also accused of being biased, despite which he was made acting registrar. He can influence the committee and the syndicate to save Dr. Amjad.
A letter written by Haripur University to District Police Officer Kashif Abbasi revealed that a total of 3 cases of harassment were reported in Haripur University, from which one case was proved, after which the office assistant was fired. In this case, the office assistant was sent on compulsory leave at the request of the affected student so as not to affect the inquiry. Despite the pleas in the case of Dr. Mutiullah Jan and Dr. Amjad Khan, both were not sent on forced leave and no systematic and independent inquiry was initiated against them.
It may be recalled that convocation was held at Haripur University on Saturday, March 5 in which Federal Minister for Production Umar Ayub Khan and Provincial Minister for Higher Education Kamran Bangash from Haripur were also special guests.
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At the event, the administration barred journalists from asking questions about harassment. Acting Vice-Chancellor Dr Anwarul Hassan Gilani and Acting Registrar were contacted several times to know their position in this regard but they did not receive a call.
