-Terminated professor terms his dismissal illegal
-IIUI spokesperson says Mushtaq terminated for his poor ACR report
ISLAMABAD: The infighting and politicking have badly while badly damaging educational and administrative affairs of the International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) administration has led to the termination of another talented faculty member.
A few months ago, the university had dismissed two faculty members who had lodged official complaints before the administration to inquire into financial and administrative misappropriations in the campus, including the awarding of a degree in absentia to the university president’s son.
Now instead of fixing its problems, the university administration has terminated Professor Dr Muhammad Mushtaq who taught in the Department of Physics. Sources said that Professor Mushtaq, who had joined the university only two years ago, was terminated due to political issues as he was one of the most talented teachers and researcher in the university.
They said that his first Annual Confidential Report (ACR) was excellent; however, his second ACR was intentionally distorted so that incapable professors who saw him as a threat to their positions could get rid of him.
A copy of the termination letter available with Pakistan Today reads that “Dr Muhammad Mushtaq was appointed as the professor of Physics BPS-21, IIUI vide offer of appointment No. Estab 8 (479). 2016-IIUI-1250 dated 03-02-2016. He joined as such with effect from 06-05-2016 and was placed on probation initially for a period of two years extendable by another one year.”
“His performance was found unsatisfactory during the probation period. Therefore, in terms of para 2 (iii) of his appointment letter, services of Dr Muhammad Mushtaq are terminated from the IIUI with immediate effect,” the letter further reads.
It is pertinent to mention here that Dr Shehzad Ashraf Chaudhry and Dr Hasnain Naqvi of the Computer Science and Software Engineering department who were dismissed from their services have been accused of demanding a merit-based appointment of the university’s president. They had also participated in demonstrations for merit-based appointments in all higher education institutions of the federal capital.
When contacted, IIUI spokesperson Nasir Farid said that the university administration could terminate any official from his/her position during their probation period on the basis of unsatisfactory performance without issuing any show-cause notices.
He said that Professor Mushtaq was terminated and not issued a show cause notice on the basis of his ACR report which was average.
However, when he was asked how the terminated professor got an average ACR after a really good one earlier, Farid said that the professor’s performance had suddenly changed.
To a question, he replied that the decision was based on merit as no politics or personal grudges are involved in the issue.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Professor Mushtaq lamented that he was terminated for reasons best known to the university administration. He said that he neither had an issue with the university high-ups nor was he informed about his ACR report ever before.
He questioned why he was allowed to work for six months after the completion of his two year probation period if his ACR was not satisfactory.
The terminated professor said that he joined the university through a proper channel after leaving his position in Wali Khan University (WKU) and had an excellent academic record. He said that was shocked about the termination order.
Dr Mushtaq said that he could do nothing but knock at the judiciary’s door for justice.