KU administration cancels seminar on Balochistan

Karachi
The competent authority of the University of Karachi on Tuesday decided not to allow a scheduled seminar to be held as per the announced agenda.
A body comprising members of the faculty, “Teachers Against War and Operation” had planned to invite Mama Qadeer, Mir Muhammad Ali Talpur, S. Akbar Zaidi, Mohammed Hanif and Farzana Majeed as guest speakers in a seminar titled “Baloch missing persons and the role of state and society” to be held at the Arts Auditorium on Wednesday (today) at 11am.
However, a day before the event was to take place, it was cancelled by the university authority without even taking the organising committee into confidence. The authority, also, did not give any reason for cancelling the seminar.
“The University has decided that seminars related to sensitive issues are not allowed in the premises of the campus,” stated an official notification distributed among a certain circle but not released to the public.
Meanwhile, one of the organisers, Dr Riaz Ahmed, said teachers would exercise their right of freedom of speech and expression and the seminar will take place as scheduled.
“The Teachers Against War and Operation consider such tactics as an attack on the essence of the university. The organisers want to know the grounds on which the event was declared sensitive,” he said.
“On one hand we were being contacted to postpone the event for a day or two. We were also assured that the event will take place. But now it was cancelled.”
The Lahore University of Management Sciences had also planned a similar programme but it too was cancelled at the eleventh hour after which the students had staged a silent protest at the campus.