CM deems GCU registrar’s services are no longer required

LAHORE – Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has deemed that the services of Government College University (GCU) Registrar Sahibzada Faisal Khurshid are no longer required. The current GCU Registrar’s candidature has already been rejected by the Punjab Higher Education Department (HED) for the post, a senior Punjab government official disclosed to Pakistan Today.
The official said that Punjab CM has taken notice of recent issues at GCU and was concerned owing to various inquiries against Faisal, especially on his alleged involvement in the sexual harassment of a female faculty member and the recent ‘inappropriate’ performance of famous stage actress, Deedar, at GCU. He said CM wanted to appoint an impeccable person as the GCU’s registrar and Faisal, two the contrary, had been facing two inquiries on the said issues.
Similarly, a Higher Education Department (HED) official on Friday disclosed that HED has ‘almost’ rejected Faisal’s summary, seeking appointment as the registrar, because of the allegations that have surfaced against him. He said that HED objected on Faisal’s appointment because the CM on October 18, 2010 had directed HED secretary to conduct an inquiry on harassment allegations against Faisal. Dr Shazia last year had wrote a letter to the CM, describing how Faisal attempted to harass her. The copy of letter is available to Pakistan Today in which CM has sought an inquiry against Faisal.
GCU Vice Chancellor Dr Khalid Aftab had sent a summary in which HED was asked to extend Faisal’s term as the registrar, but HED rejected the plea saying that according to GCU Ordinance 2002, the post should be advertised and the committee shall fill this slot. CM Secretariat sources said that CM was not happy with state of affairs at GCU, especially after Deedar’s performance and the protests by the GCU students and faculty members against Faisal.
HED sources said Faisal’s second time summary had been rejected because of allegations against him but it was premature to say who would conduct inquiry against Faisal whether HED itself or GCU. However they said that Faisal’s nomination has been rejected and HED is likely to write a letter to GCU in which role of a search committee and syndicate will be discussed in finalising the names for slot of registrar.
The sources further said that HED earlier instead of taking CM’s directions seriously and probing the matter had left the fate of Dr Shazia on the mercy of Faisal who has been working as the registrar for the last three years. Earlier, GCU in December 2010 advertised for the post of registrar in which 29 candidates including Khurshid have applied.
15 candidates were short listed and a GCU comprised search committee has conducted interviews and have finalised three names including Faisal’s, as principal candidate for this post, while the other two are former registrar of Islamia University Bahawalpur Muhammad Ishtiaq and Gul Aziz Awan, a faculty member of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology. GCU’s PRO Musaddiq Suherverdi said that he has no information in this regard and further said that every thing at GCU will be held according to rule and regulations.