Despite the fact that Dr Mujahid Kamran, the acting vice-chancellor of University of the Punjab, scored just 25 marks out of 40 in his interview before the search committee for permanent appointment to the top slot in the university, a Facebook account named after him posted Friday that Kamran has been appointed as permanent VC for the next four years.
“I’m delighted to announce that I’m extended as Vice Chancellor of University of the Punjab for next 4 years, Thanks to all of my supporters and haters who inspired me to do best,” the post states.
A spokesperson for the Punjab University however categorically denied that Dr Kamran had a Facebook account.
PU Spokesman Khurram Shehzad told Pakistan Today that the university had not yet received any notification regarding permanent appointment of Dr Mujahid Kamran as the vice-chancellor.
“Dr Mujahid Kamran does not have any Facebook account,” the spokesman reiterated.
Interestingly, the Facebook Page is being followed by a large number of former and incumbent students of the University of Punjab and education reporters from various mainstream newspapers besides several hundred others.
However, a source privy to the developments told Pakistan Today on the condition of anonymity that Dr Kamran may be able to bag the coveted slot for the third time as well because of his influence in some powerful quarters.
“No official decision has been made yet as the summary is still lying with the Chief Minister’s Secretariat,” a Higher Education Department (HED) official told Pakistan Today. He said the report regarding the appointment of Dr Kamran as the permanent VC was not true.
Punjab’s Higher Education Department had on November 4 last year advertised the post of vice chancellors in four public sector universities and invited applications from aspiring candidates. These varsities were University of the Punjab, University of Sargodha, Lahore College for Women University and Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering & Technology.
The search committee conducted the interviews of shortlisted candidates rigorously and submitted its recommendation to the HED. The committee headed by Syed Babar Ali comprised Dr Zafar Iqbal Qureshi of LUMS, Punjab HED Chairman Dr Nizamuddin and HED Secretary Irfan Ali.
Three names each for every university were sent to the Chief Minister’s Secretariat after which CM Sharif himself conducted interviews of the candidates on February 13 for all the four universities. For the top slot of the Punjab University, Dr Mujahid Kamran, Dr Muhammad Zakriya Zakar and Dr Zafar Mueen Nasar had been interviewed.
It may be mentioned that Dr Kamran has enjoyed two consecutive stints as PU vice chancellor. When his second term expired on January 22, the HED forwarded the name of Dr Taqi Zahid Butt to the CM’s Secretariat for appointment as the acting vice-chancellor since he was the senior-most professor at the time.
The CM’s Secretariat allegedly altered the name of Dr Butt and allowed Dr Kamran to continue even in the interim set-up. Senior faculty members have been holding regular protests under “Save PU Movement” in front of the CM’s Secretariat against what they call “unlawful appointment of Dr Kamran”.
Samee Uzair Khan, former PU Law College principal, told Pakistan Today that they would continue their peaceful protest to save the university. He said the ranking of university had dropped during Dr Kamran’s tenure as well as the standard of education.