ISLAMABAD: The Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) on Tuesday protested against the International Islamic University (IIU) Islamabad administration.
In a statement, the FAPUASA said that the federation had planned to hold an academic seminar in the Allama Iqbal Auditorium of the university on Tuesday. “However, when the guest reached the premises, the university administration stopped them from holding the seminar and locked down the auditorium,” the association said.
According to the FAPUASA, the seminar had to be held outside the auditorium. “After the seminar, we protested against the behaviour of the university administration,” the statement said.
On the other hand, the university administration claimed that FAPUASA had failed to obtain prior permission from the university administration for holding the event.
“Obtaining permission is a legal requirement for holding such activities. There is a conference committee in the university which deals with such matters,” an IIU spokesman told Daily Times.
“If anyone intends to hold a seminar or any other academic event in the university premises, they first have to get permission from the committee. For this purpose, a request is filed with the committee head at least 20 days before the actual event. However, the FAPUASA failed to so,” he said.
“Even though the FAPUASA filed the request very late, the committee reviewed it. However, the purpose of organising the seminar was not clear. So, the committee refused to accept the request. It also informed the FAPUASA, Islamabad chapter secretary on Monday in writing about its decision,” he said.
Rector IIU
Dr Masoom Yasinzai said that there was a set procedure for obtaining permission for such activities. “Why would the university willingly disallow such constructive activities? However, obtaining the prescribed permission is a necessary requirement,” he said.
Dr Yasinzai said that the university even encouraged outsiders to hold academic and constructive conferences in the university. “Ensuring peace and security in the university is the responsibility of the administration. We cannot compromise on such issues,” he said.
When contacted, FAPUASA Secretary General Dr Shakeel Farooqi denied the claims made by the IIU administration. “We had obtained the consent from the university for holding the seminar within the prescribed timeframe,” he said.
He said that the main purpose of the seminar was to discuss the academic freedom, university autonomy and public interests.
“When the guests reached the venue, they were shocked to see that the auditorium was closed,” he said.
According FAPUASA statement, the main theme of the seminar was to highlight issues such as academic freedom, university autonomy, public interests and post 18th Constitutional Amendment higher education scenario in the country. “Faculty representatives were not even allowed to sit at an alternative place by the university administration. We then gathered outside the main entrance of the campus to register our protest,” he said.
“The group chanted slogans against the administration for curtailing academic freedom and disrespecting teachers,” the statement said.
They demanded that the PM, who was also controlling authority of federal Higher Education Commission, to take serious notice of the incident.
The FAPUASA secretary general said that the event was late held outside the auditorium.
A senior IIU official said that the protest had been pre-planned. “They just wanted to show their hostility towards the university administration. There were no more than 30 to 40 present at the protest,” he said.
Published in Daily Times, August 9th 2017.