Daily Times

Professor Dr. Hamid Mukhtar, director of Institute of Industrial Biotechnology (IIB) at Government College University (GCU) has expressed his disappointment over his replacement order, which he claimed was passed by the Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Asghar Zaidi, based on lies and violation of rules.

Talking to Daily Times, Dr. Mukhtar, who is amongst five senior-most professors in GCU and a respected syndicate member, said that his only crime is that he has worked hard for the uplift of the institute for continuous five years and he has always stood firm for the respect of his fellow teachers.

During his tenure as director, he was able to launch some new Degree Programs, introduced several new courses at par with international universities and established state of the art Industrial Biotechnology laboratories under his directorship.

Prof Mukhtar said that he is in harmony with his colleagues in the Institute and has always shown effective teamwork.

Expressing his shock over the recent press release by the Vice Chancellor, Dr Mukhtar said that his statement- which said that his directorship was interim based, was a complete lie. Dr Mukhtar clarified that his appointment orders clearly mentions that his tenure is, “for the period of three years’ which will expire in August, 2022. Additionally, his appointment was never a stopgap arrangement type. He noted that two more chairpersons (Botany & Economics) were appointed on the same day, then why the change at IIB only, he questioned.

Replacing senior-most Professor of IIB (himself) with number 3 (Dr. Nauman Aftab the newly appointed IIB Director) is not only illogical but also a clear violation of rules and regulations as the tenure of ongoing director is overdue, Dr Mukhtar lamented. Lame excuses by the registrar and the VC himself to defend this unlawful act make things more suspicious, Prof. Mukhtar opined.

He further explained that Prof. Zaidi (VC) is in a habit of using substandard tactics to defame respectable professors, mentioning the he had a fallout with the VC when he raised his voice against the unfortunate incident, in which Prof. Zaidi misbehaved with another Chairperson, Prof. Asad Kazmi, who was later conveyed that he should quit.

Dr Mukhtar said that it is worth mentioning that inquiry of the same incident is still pending by the Chancellor at Governor’s House. “Bombardment of threats continued for several weeks, but I stood firm for the dignity of the teacher community” he added. He was also conveyed that serious charges would be fabricated to damage his official standings in many ways.

This sequel resulted in his illegal replacement order, he revealed adding that Prof. Zaidi’s administration has also been carrying out secret inquiries without even informing the accused and desired reports are engineered in view to blackmail any faculty member; the same is used whenever need arises; this is a unique feature of this administration. A similar inquiry has been initiated against him on an anonymous complaint, Dr Mukhtar concluded.