The central office-bearers of the association, who also vowed their support for the KASA members, backed the demands made by the Kohat University Academic Staff Association.
The Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST) administration is accused of victimising the teaching community, which was denounced on Thursday by the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA).
The central office-bearers of the association, who also vowed their support for the KASA members, backed the demands made by the Kohat University Academic Staff Association (KASA).
The association’s president, Dr. Kaleemullah Bareech, and general secretary, Dr. Akhtiar Ali Ghumro, issued a joint statement in which they criticised the actions as unacceptable and undermining the principles of institutional autonomy and academic integrity, which are crucial to the functioning of universities.
“We demand that the government act right away to oust the vice chancellor and registrar of Kohat University and to make sure that the academic staff is shielded from further victimisation and legal violations. We ask the Chancellor and Higher Education Department to create a Joint Investigation Team to look into all statutory violations and victimisation of teaching community at KUST, according to the statement.
The association requested that a fact-finding committee be established by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to look into the events at Kohat University and hold those responsible.
FAPUASA continued to hold the view that academic institutions must function in a setting that supports academic freedom, upholds the rights of academic staff, and adheres to the fundamentals of institutional autonomy.
In order to ensure that these principles are upheld at Kohat University and all other academic institutions in Pakistan, they urged the government and pertinent authorities to act quickly and decisively. The statement reaffirmed that “we stand in solidarity with KASA and the academic staff at Kohat University, and we will continue to support them in their efforts to defend their rights and uphold academic integrity in Pakistan.”
KASA was founded in 2008, and six elections were held to select its Cabinet. For the various KASA positions, candidates from the two main KUST parties were fielded, with Dr. Muhammad Asif Jan leading the reformers and Dr. Shahid Niaz Khan leading the Democrats.