Daily Times

LAHORE: The Punjab government is likely to appoint provisional vice chancellors in a day or two as Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has directed the Higher Education Department to act in accordance with court orders, Daily Times has learnt.

According to the Lahore High Court judgment, Dr Zafar Moeen Nasar, Dr Rukhsana Kausar, Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed and Dr Mohammad Zubair will assume look-after charge of Punjab University, Lahore College for Women University, University of Sargodha and Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering and Technology, Multan, respectively.

However, sources told Daily Times that the would-be vice would have to deal with security issues at the universities, as recently several universities have received threat alerts.

According to documents available with Daily Times, an email was sent by the Higher Education Department to public sector universities, stating: “Terrorists are likely to target educational institutions in upcoming weeks / months, especially December 25, 2016 and December 31st December/New Year celebrations to create a security situation.”

The email read that the terrorists had been tasked to kill teachers and students, including heads of institutions, through target killers and suicide bombers. It said the terrorists had planned to throw letters in educational institutions to spread terror amongst staff and students. The Punjab government had directed the heads of academic institutions to ensure strict measures and vigilance to avoid any untoward situation.

Talking to Daily Times, faculty members of several universities said that under such a high-level threat situation, would it be wise for the government to appoint provisional vice chancellors, who even could not take policy decisions? “At the risk of precious lives, this act will seriously hamper security situation at campuses,” they said.

A senior official at one of these varsities, on the condition of anonymity, said that the government must take steps to handle such a sensitive situation wisely, as precious lives could be not put at risk. The vice chancellors had already expressed their reservations over their administrative powers.

Another faculty member said that the fate of provisional vice chancellors was also not clear. “Since it depends upon the final verdict of the Lahore High Court, how a provisional vice chancellor could seriously work for the institutions since he/she knew that he/she would remain head of their institutions for a few week or so and they could not take policy decisions,” he said. Under such situation, he said, the government must chalk out a comprehensive strategy for security of campuses.