- Dr Javed Ashraf says protesters will have to resign if they fail to prove allegations
ISLAMABAD: Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Vice-Chancellor (VC) Dr Javed Ashraf has said that he will resign if the protesting faculty members presented concrete proofs of financial embezzlements against him, but they would have to resign, however, in case of failure to prove their allegations.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, the VC said that it was quite unfortunate that the protesting faculty members, who were associated with the Academic Staff Association (ASA), resorted to illegal modus operandi to remove him from office.
He went on to say that the protesting faculty members were levelling false allegations against him and did not have any proof in support of their claims. He made it clear that such tactics of duress won’t work because there is a proper procedure to remove the VC from his position.
“The VC could be removed from his office on the basis of three reasons: if he has been convicted by the court, losses his senses or is not able to perform his duty due to some fatal incident,” he said.
It is pertinent to mention here that the ASA has been staging protest demonstrations from the last month and boycotted classes at the start of the new academic session on Monday, demanding the resignation of the vice-chancellor of the university.
They held a meeting with Education Minister Balighur Rehman on Monday and reiterated their demand for VC’s resignation, and levelled allegations against him of incompetence and failure to address issues facing the university.
The VC repeatedly offered the protesting staffers to sit together and resolve the issues if any through talks, but the protestors are sticking to their demand of getting a resignation from Dr Javed Ashraf at all costs.
“I am voluntarily a low paid vice-chancellor in the country so how can I use the university resources for myself,” he added.
Ashraf said that the members of ASA were considered his B-team once but they turned against him because of his opposition to not giving promotion to two of their colleagues who did not fulfil the criteria.
He expressed his shock that the handful faculty members were hell-bent to disturb the study of over 10,000 students but quickly added that they wouldn’t allow doing so, as he had the right to take legal action against them. He added that the protesting faculty members would be given a one week time to submit their proofs, and failing to do so will result in disciplinary action.
“Though the protesting faculty members are using duress and force, considerable numbers of faculty members are performing their duty diligently,” the VC maintained.
“I asked the President Mamnoon Hussain to initiate an inquiry against me if I committed any wrong,” Ashraf said.
To a question, the vice-chancellor said that he had been paying house rent for the last two and half years regularly.