Nine current and recent visiting faculty members at Law and Policy Department at LUMS have issued a statement in support of Prof Abid Hussain Imam.
The statement reads: “We are current and recent faculty of the Law and Policy Department at the Lahore University of Management Sciences and write to take issue with a misleading news report entitled “LUMS teacher found guilty of sexually harassing student” printed in the 1 November 2014 issue of Pakistan Today.
We believe that the article, as well as the underlying Ombudsman’s report, does a great disservice to our colleague, Professor Abid Hussain Imam. As current or recent members of the Department, we are collectively familiar with all the facts and circumstances relating to this case, as well as the individuals involved. As such, we feel compelled to set the record straight.
The incident in question occurred in proverbial “broad daylight” in a public corridor within the Law and Policy Department, in the presence of several witnesses including the head of the Law Department. The entire proceedings were captured by a corridor security camera and the footage has been made available to all parties, and has been viewed by us.
It shows Professor Imam was standing in a corridor in front of his office when a group of students stopped by and engaged in conversation. At one point in the course of this group conversation, Professor Imam is seen momentarily putting his hand on the shoulder of one of the assembled students. The entire episode of the briefest tap on the student’s shoulder took at most a second before Professor Imam quickly withdrew his hand. The students lingered on for a while and then walked away. There appeared nothing to complain about. This was the entire extent of the incident as recorded by CCTV footage.
Realizing that even if this inadvertent action might have been inappropriate, Professor Imam immediately apologized to the student on the spot, if any offense had been caused. That should have been the end of the matter. Professor Imam discussed the matter with the LUMS Vice Chancellor who advised him to offer another apology, which he complied with.
However, the student in question nevertheless decided to press a formal complaint. There is a perception that in pressing the matter she was encouraged by another Law Department faculty member who, during that very period, was being exposed by Professor Imam for falsely representing his educational qualifications.
A committee comprising two females and a male faculty member was constituted. After an extensive investigation, interviewing witnesses and a review of the video footage, it found Professor Imam innocent of sexual harassment both under University policy as well as under legal strictures.
We collectively believe that, given the witness accounts as well as the video recording, there was no other possible outcome to this investigation. Once the entire record was made available, it conclusively demonstrated that the student’s written complaint (already a part of the record) was grossly exaggerated as well as inaccurate.
It should also be noted that while this matter was pending more than 120 of Professor Imam’s students signed a petition in his support and defense, lauding his excellence as a teacher as well as his professionalism and integrity.
Despite being found innocent, Professor Imam in protest, on principle, resigned from his position at the University in May 2014.
For her part, the student took the matter to the Government Ombudsman whose report your paper has featured in its story. From what we know of the conduct of the Ombudsman’s inquiry, we have serious reservations about its process, and understand it displayed scant regard for the procedures and protections mandated and envisaged by law.
However, we write now primarily because we believe this entire process has wronged a valued colleague, and has led our University and particularly its fledgling Law Department to lose one of its most talented members.
These are the facts as we know them. We recognize that sexual harassment at workplace is a real issue and needs to be fought tooth and nail. However, false accusations and tainted processes only hurt this cause.”
The statement was signed by Osama Siddique, Bilal Hassan Minto, Zubair Abbasi, Maryam Khan, Zoe Richards, Waqqas Mir, Rafay Alam, Saad Rasool and Ali Ahsan.
NOTE: The statement is not the official version of LUMS and its Law and Policy Department and the views expressed by the signatories are purely in their personal capacity.