Faculty members of the University of Karachi (KU) on Monday protested the beating of their colleague allegedly by students of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) and its guards recently.
A complete strike was observed on the call of Karachi University Teachers Society (Kuts), the body’s president Dr Shah Aliul Qadir said.
He added that all academic activities remained suspended at the city’s biggest public sector varsity as teachers boycotted their classes.
Regarding the unfortunate incident, the Kuts president said that a faculty member of the KU’s Department of Public Administration, Mustafa Haider, was travelling in a car within the university premises. Three students were standing on the main road outside the IBA campus inside Karachi University. When Haider indicated to them to step out of the way, the students allegedly used undesirable language against the teacher despite him informing them that he was a KU faculty member.
The teacher than parked his car and when he stepped out, two of the students allegedly beat him. According to the Kuts president, the students also called IBA’s security guards who subjected the teacher to torture.
The Kuts president further said that the faculty members’ demands included expelling the students, termination of the guards and an apology from IBA.
Dr Shah said that IBA has reportedly tendered an apology and formed a disciplinary body, inviting Kuts to nominate a representative to investigate the incident. Kuts will nominate a senior faculty member, he added.
Separately, the KU administration has also submitted an application in a police station for registration of a first information report (FIR) against the IBA students and guards for torturing the teacher, according to Dr Shah.
Meanwhile, IBA has termed the incident “highly regrettable”, saying it “strongly condemns any misconduct against teachers by any member of society”.
In a post shared on Facebook, IBA said the matter had been forwarded to the IBA Disciplinary Committee for necessary action.
“The IBA has strict measures in place to discipline any misconduct and will not tolerate any act which would bring the IBA into disrepute. The IBA will work with Karachi University Teachers and will resolve the matter amicably and work towards the welfare of the teachers in future.”
