"Professors, teachers of all categories please remember that in a society where a massive indoctrination is the order of the day Education is a potentially life threatening profession. Let’s evolve our own safety rules kit for the purpose of staying as much dumb as possible on the campus. After all survival of the body is more important than that of mind. We are not the real teachers of our students."

This is what Mirza Athar Baig, a professor of Philosophy in Lahore posted on his Facebook a day after the tragic killing of associate professor Khalid Hameed in Bahawalpur at the hands of a student on March 20. There perhaps was no need for any further reminders about the intolerance in our campuses but the incident definitely brought it into sharp focus.

How do the teachers feel about this murder as well as the general state of academic freedom at public sector universities in particular? Nasir Abbas Nayyar, an Urdu literature professor, a critic and fiction writer, was forced to write a heart-felt column immediately after March 20, titled ‘Professor Khalid Hameed ka Qatil Kaun’. "The public sector education from class 1 onwards, including the curriculum, teachers and the whole environment is on a decline. No one is bothered about the thought process of students who are evaluated only at the time of exams in a very narrow sense," says Nayyar while talking to TNS.

Dr Riaz Ahmed, a political activist and associate professor of Applied Chemistry at the University of Karachi, who has been picked up twice by the state agencies for his activism, says the murder of Khalid Hameed "is indeed sad" but adds that this is what you should expect from a society where "the state institutions are themselves involved in summary justice".

Ahmed is of the view that the state itself has an extremist tilt and refers to laws like the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and Protection of Pakistan Act (POPA). "Generally, there is a trend of summary trials. If you have military courts, then why do you need a Supreme Court? 70 per cent of anti-terrorist cases are made against those who protest. Those the state thinks are involved in terrorism are eliminated in fake encounters. The laws [ATA and POPA] are there to deprive people of their rights and have prolonged cases against them. The universities, too, try people on the same principle, in sexual harassment cases, for example. Here, [in Bahawalpur] there was massive injustice but it was complete. In other cases, the teachers are subjected to media trial and are killed every day."

Both Nayyar and Ahmed are unhappy with the reaction of state and society over the Bahawalpur killing. Nayyar thinks "there is acceptance for this kind of behaviour in society. For instance those who were murdered in a mosque in New Zealand were called shaheed but this teacher who was killed barbarically while performing his duties was not. There was no condemnation at the level of government and even society; very few did on social media, but I have even seen messages where the student was being praised."

Ahmed wants everyone to see what lies behind this intolerance. "It’s the political parties, bureaucracy, the police, they are all part and parcel of this system. There is no condemnation from any of these quarters. Which political leader went and met with the deceased professor’s family?" he asks, adding that "in our experience, the most powerful are the most intolerant".

An English Literature professor at a public sector women’s university in Lahore, who is also involved in curriculum development and review, says what happened in Bahawalpur "has opened our eyes to the Islamisation of both English and Urdu text books and how intolerant it is making us to the other point of view.

"They have even mixed language [English] with religion. A novel in intermediate course has been replaced by stories on the Prophet’s (pbuh) life. It is as if English is a threat to our religion which has to be safeguarded. In all English language textbooks, from grade 1 to 10, the first chapter, that is supposed to be on ethics and values, is always about religion."

Nayyar agrees with this. "Urdu’s identity from Class 1 to PhD is associated with religion. In Urdu’s curriculum, there are lessons on religion. So the real literature which expresses human experience is not there. The spirit of literature is secular but we have teachers of Urdu in our universities who interpret the text of literature in religious terms". He says we can’t blame madrassas alone when there are Physics PhDs who in their classes teach the need to understand every scientific fact as per religion. "The students think there is only one way to understand the world and that is through religion. The world is divided into black and white, and those who don’t agree with them are kafirs, worthy to be killed."

In this scenario, the English Literature professor thinks the teachers "can only make students literate, perhaps, but can’t educate them."

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Dr Riaz Ahmed blames it on the "lawless state". He recalls how the Rangers have been posted at the Karachi University for 27 years. "Only a few of the 350 personnel are there for security. The state has failed in a city like Karachi, what to talk about Multan and Bahawalpur. And I am surprised when I see the level of monitoring at some elite private universities in Lahore and Karachi."

The teachers are now more scared than before. Nayyar says, "Yes I too am afraid. I have to be extra careful that I don’t utter a sentence in the class that might evoke a reaction. This has been my experience for the past many years as a teacher. I record with fear that more such incidents will happen." He recalls reading on social media how Khalid Hameed’s colleagues were afraid of saying he was innocent. "This is a sad reflection of the kind of society we live in."