Gov College University Lahore Setting New Merits – Restoring the Accused of Harassment – Suspending the Inquirers

Tazeen Akhtar

Government College has been the ideal destination of the brilliant students , if not in Pakistan but definitely in Punjab for decades. It was upgraded to University for its shining results but now it is down graded by none other than its teachers. Two teachers were blamed of harassment by the female students who have been restored in their positions leaving the female students in the lurch. Actually it is more than that – that the most credible education institute having the brightest history is now in the news for harassment, illegal acts, nepotism etc. Pakistan is already coping with a deterioration crisis of credibility.

The Pro Vice Chancellor has issued orders of restoration of the services of Mr. Saeed Ahmad Butt,Assistant Professor History and Mr.Javed Bajwa Lecturer Physical Education only a day before his tenure is coming to end on 19 April. The administration is not authorized to take this decision with the syndicate on board.

Now the situation in the GCU is , the teachers facing harassment cases have been restored on the directives of the Ombudsman of Punjab who turned down major penalties into minor that let the PVC to take an action that goes against the decisions of the Syndicate. Further, the PVC has suspended the other officers with no legal authority. They are Prof Dr Nasir Khan, Chairperson Electrical Engineering, Dr Shaukat Ali, Additional Registrar, Mr. Tahir Mahmood, Additional Registrar and Mr. Atif Ikran, Assistant Registrar.

There is no charge against these officers and legally the PVC can not take any action against the officers of grade 17 or above. The PVC did this as well in the last days of his tenure. He was supposed to just take day to day affairs and not at policy level.

The harassment case against Saeed Butt surfaced in June 2023 while another case against Javed Bajwa was filed in Oct 2023. Syndicate meetings were held on both cases. 68th meeting on 24 June 2023 was held on Saeed Butt while 69th and 70th meetings on 2 Oct 2023 and later on 12 Jan 2024 respectively were held on Javed Bajwa. These meetings recommended major penalties for both teachers that is termination of service.