Five students expelled and 4 suspended from
Poonch University AJK for demanding the accreditat
The Asian Human Rights Commission
(AHRC) has received information that five students have been expelled and four
students have beensuspended from the faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences
of 'the University of Poonch, RawalaKot' Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK),
Pakistan, for demanding the accreditation of their faculty. From the nine
expelled and suspended students eight were in their 9th semester and about to graduate,and one
female student was in her 7thsemester. Every year the Pakistan
Veterinary Medical Council (PVMC) issues circulars warning that University of
Poonch, Azad Kashmir (AJK) is running illegal degree courses for the Doctor of
Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree and it has not been accredited with the PVMC.
However, the University of Poonch, in contravention to the instructions of
PVMC, opens admissions to the faculty every year.
More than 200 students have graduated with the DVM degree but remain
jobless since their graduation. Criminal cases have been filed against the
expelled and suspended students, including two female students, in the local
police station and there are chances that they will be arrested in coming days.
CASE NARRATIVE:
On 9 May, the University
of Poonch, Rawala Kot, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Pakistan, through its
Discipline Committee, expelled five students and suspended four students,
including two female students, on charges of distorting the image of the
university by doing negative propaganda; affecting the examination process;
using bad language against the vice chancellor, registrar and other teaching
staff of university; and chanting slogans against them.
The students from
thefaculty of veterinary sciences were demanding the accreditation of the
faculty so that their degrees could be recognised andthey could workas veterinary
doctors. The university authorities have assured the students that they will
get the accreditation many times, the lack of which has resulted in the
unemployment of 210 graduated students.
The names of expelled
students are: 1) Mr. Sufyan Riaz, son of Riaz Ahmed, 9th Semester student of Doctor of
Veterinary Medicine (DVM); 2) Mr. Mohammad Ammad Shujat, son of Shujat Ali, 9th Semester; 3) Mr. Zeeshan Mehmood, son
of Rahim Dad, 9th Semester;
4) Mr. Abid Hussain Baqri, son of Mohammad Ehsan, 9th Semester; and 5) Mr. Tauqir Baber, son
of Malik Baber Hussain, 9th Semester
of DVM.
The suspended students
for one academic session (two semesters) are: 1)Mr. Syed Iftekha, son of Altaf
Hussain Shah, 9th Semester;
2) Mr. Haad Rabbani, son of Mehmood Rabbani, 9th Semester; 3) Miss Amina Jabeen,
daughter of Mohammad Baqir, 9thSemester; and 4) Miss Fatima Janjua,
daughter of Abdul Aziz, 7th Semester.
These students are
barred from entering the university premises. They cannot join or shift to any
other department or university to continue their education. The students are
not only from Azad and Jammu Kashmir (AJK) but also from other provinces of
Pakistan.
The students, including
thosein their final semesters, remained on strike for 37 days from
August-September 2013, demanding the accreditation of the faculty.The students
first held their rallies and demonstrations in Rawala Kot city, AJK, for 30
days. After receiving no remedy from the government of AJK and or from the PVMC
they held a long march of 110 kilometres towards Islamabad, the capital of
Pakistan. First they had a sit-in outside the National Press Club, Islamabad,
for five days but no one from the government responded to their demands. The
striking students, more than 100, went to Kashmir House in Islamabad, where the
President of AJK government, Chief Secretary of AJK, Vice Chancellor of the
Rawala Kot University, Dr. Arshad, president of the Pakistan Veterinary Medical
Council (PVMC), Dr. Manzoor Hussain and other officials of AJK were staying,
and held a protest and sit-in outside the gate.[u1]
On the intervention of
the President of AJK it was decided and announced before the protesting
students that the government of AJK and the PVMC will accredit the faculty of
veterinary sciences of the University of Poonch. The President also announced a
grant of 50 million Pakistani Rupees to the faculty. The vice chancellor was
asked to arrange a visit for experts from the PVMC to examine the facilities
for the education of veterinary sciences in the faculty, which is manadatory
for granting accreditation.
The government and the
university authorities failed to fulfil their agreements. Criminally, the
authorities from the University of Poonch swept away the findings of the team
of experts from PVMC, which were made after their visit . The PVMC has said
that there are no proper facilities, no proper laboratories, no standard of
teaching the syllabus and no proper classrooms and field visits. The university
is nonetheless charging heavy fees from the regular students and those students
who got admission on the 'sponsorship' scheme.
The annual examinations
were supposed to start on April 28, but the students held demonstrations. This
resulted in the expulsion and suspension of the students as the punishment for
demanding accreditation of their faculty and post-graduate degrees. The
university authorities are also using coercive and intimidating tactics against
the 210 students, particularly the female students. The authorities are making
phone calls to the parents of female students to intimidate them, warning them
of dire consequences.
Criminal cases were
filed against the expelled and suspended students in the local police station
and there are chances that they will be arrested in the coming days.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The PVMC had already
spread the word through the advertisements and official circulations to all the
four provincial governments and the AJK government that jobs will not be
offered to the veterinarians who have do their degree in veterinary sciences from
the University of Poonch as the University is not recognized by the PVMC.
There are two methods of
the admission to the veterinary faculty of Poonch University. The students are
selected by the federal committee for admission to veterinary faculties. The
committee nominates and selects students from every province on the basis of
the population of the particular province. Regular students selected by the
federal committee have to pay 25,000 Pakistani Rupees per semester whereas
those who are admitted[l2] on
sponsorship scheme have to pay 50,000 per semester.
The University of Poonch
and the federal selection committee, knowing that the faculty is not
recognized, are intentionally cheating the parents of more than 400 students.
Even the University of
Poonch was accredited in the year 2012 but it has started the faculty of
veterinary degree from 2008. [l3]
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to
the following authorities calling on them to immediately cancel the orders for
the expulsion and suspension of nine students from the faculty of veterinary
sciences of the University of Poonch and withdraw the criminal cases filed by
the university authorities against the students. Legal action must be taken
against the vice chancellor of the university and registrar for charging heavy
fees from students. The faculty of veterinary sciences of the university must
be accredited immediately from the year 2008 so that graduates can be qualified
for jobs. [u4]
The AHRC is sending a
separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Education
calling for his intervention into this matter.
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