Faculty and staff members of the University of Karachi protested in front of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) on Monday to express solidarity with a teacher named Dr Mustafa Haider, who was allegedly roughed up by students and security guards.
Teachers boycotted classes and other academic activities throughout the campus. The protesters demanded immediate action against the students and guards concerned. Condemning the alleged act of violence, they expressed anger over maladministration by the campus security department.
A video clip circulating on social media allegedly shows the faculty member honking at the IBA students, following which the students and security guards roughed him up.
Addressing the protesters, the teachers lamented that the non-registration of an FIRs two days after the incident proved that there were two laws in the country. They said that the incident took place on campus, so it was the responsibility of the KU management to file a police complaint.
Disrespect
The Karachi University Teachers Society (KUTS) said in its statement that teaching at the varsity was suspended due to the alleged act of violence by IBA students and guards against Dr Haider, a respectable teacher.
Censuring the alleged violence, the KUTS termed it disrespect and ridicule of all teachers. Dr Shah Ali Al-Qadr, president of the Anjuman-e-Asataza, demanded that the IBA administration take action against the students and guards involved in the incident within 24 hours.
He said that the IBA is a part of KU, which owns all of the land and buildings, so the IBA’s land and buildings should be handed over to KU, and the IBA transferred out of KU. He demanded from the KU management to forbid any institution other than the university itself to have security guards within the limits of the varsity.
Regret
“Being an educational institute, the IBA Karachi understands the importance of teachers, holds them in high esteem and imparts the same values to its students, staff and faculty members,” said the IBA’s public relations department in a statement.
“The IBA Karachi strongly condemns any misconduct against teachers by any member of society. An altercation involving an IBA student and a faculty member from the University of Karachi is highly regrettable.
“The matter has been forwarded to the IBA disciplinary committee for necessary action. We will also invite a senior professor of the University of Karachi to be a part of this
disciplinary committee.
“The IBA has strict measures in place to discipline any misconduct and will not tolerate any act which would bring the institution into disrepute. We hope that the KU teachers’ association and the IBA will resolve the matter amicably and work towards the welfare of the teachers in future.”
