PU student accuses teacher of sectarian bias

LAHORE
A Punjab University (PU) student on Friday wrote a written complaint to the PU Vice Chancellor (VC) Dr Mujahid Kamran accusing his teacher of sectarian discrimination, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Student Syed Adnan Qureshi threatened to commit suicide if action was not taken against his teacher Shafia Bhatti. Qureshi alleged that Shafia had used derogatory words against the sacred places of his sect, which had badly hurt him. On the other hand, Shafia denied the allegations and said that during her teacher career, she had never discriminated students on sectarian basis. Qureshi said that when she had asked Shafia not to defame his sect, she had scolded him and vowed to teach him a lesson. He alleged that Shafia was spreading sectarianism in the varsity and urged the PU VC to look into the matter. Qureshi said that he had never failed in his student life and was worried that his teachers might victimise him on sectarian grounds.
Dr Kamran said that he had asked Institute of Communication Studies (ICS) Director Dr Ahsan Akhtar Naz to look into the matter and submit his recommendations in this regard. The PU VC said that he had received Qureshi’s application titled, “Is it a crime being a Shia?” Qureshi is a student of the final semester of the BS (Hons) programme at the ICS. He said that as his teacher was a Wahabi, she had used derogatory language against his sect. Qureshi alleged that Shafia had failed him in the term paper of video production, which proved sectarian discrimination on her part. The student said that it was unfortunate that due to his sect, he was being discriminated. Qureshi alleged that Shafia had threatened to fail him in the final examination and “not even a minister could do anything about it”. The student said that he was under mental stress and could not concentrate on anything. Shafia, talking to Pakistan Today, denied all allegations and said that she knew how to deal with such students. Naz, already bogged down in corruption allegations, said that he would look into the matter and report to the VC after a through investigation.