LAHORE
Punjab University faculty members on Tuesday expressed their displeasure over the unofficial use of varsity resources by Colonel (r) Ikramullah Khan, the PU adviser to the vice chancellor, for furthering his vested interests that involve a blatant anti-Zardari agenda.
The teachers took strong exception to the anti-Zardari statements issued by Ikramullah at a function held in Cantt, which were later also posted on the varsity’s website. They demanded PU Chancellor Punjab Governor Salman Taseer to launch an investigation into why a public-sector university – including the PU Public Relations Department – was being used to promote the ‘vested interests’ of certain elements.
PU officials alleged that in the past Col (r) Ikramullah used the varsity’s PR Department and other administrative machinery to promote the agenda of his private organisation, the Pakistan National Forum (PNF). They expressed their unhappiness over the way the PU administration was being engaged in functions organised under the aegis of PNF.
A couple of days ago, some retired military personnel and lawyers among others gathered at a venue in Cantt under the banner of the PNF, where one of the speakers vehemently criticised President Asif Zardari.
According to sources, the private function received extensive coverage by the PU PR office and later the PU public relations officer also issued a press release on the function, which was also posted on the varsity’s website.
The PR stated that one of the speakers at the PNF seminar, while criticising Zardari said, “Presently corruption has spread from the lowest to the highest bureaucratic and state levels. The real ailment beneath all our crises is the widespread corruption. President Zardari is repeating the same mistake that General Musharraf committed i.e. holding both the offices of the president and the party’s chairmanship.
He should retain the presidential office and give up the PPP chairmanship. The NRO was formulated to bring about national reconciliation by covering up graft charges leveled against political figures. That is why the government did not oppose it before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court’s verdict on the NRO has paved the way for opening up Zardari’s Swiss cases which is akin to opening the Pandora’s Box”.
According to a member of the Punjab University Academic Staff Association (PUASA), it was “shameful” that an official-on-contract was misusing authority, using PU’s name and its offices for furthering his political ends. No public-sector university in Pakistan has an adviser for the VC besides PU, he added.
The PUASA member went on to reveal that the varsity faculty had even recorded a protest against Ikramullah’s appointment in the first place. Meanwhile Ikramullah, in his defence, said that the PU PR Department had been asked to issue the press release because of a “shortage of time” that prevented the hiring of a private company, and added that “it is no big issue”.
He denied having any knowledge about the PR being displayed at the varsity’s official website, adding that the “PU PRO may have uploaded it on the website”. Ikramullah said that the PNF was a registered NGO and many intellectuals were its members. PU Registrar Dr Muhammad Akhtar confirmed that the PU was indeed being used as a platform for furthering the vested interests of certain elements.
He said that he would take up this matter with Ikramullah. Unconstitutional: Usman Saleem, the PPP Punjab chapter deputy secretary, said that the varsity was a public institution and it was unconstitutional for its platform to be used for issuing statements against Zardari.
He said the Punjab government must take notice of the issue and the provincial government’s failure to do so would imply that the Punjab government was behind the anti-Zardari activities going on in PU.
