PESHAWAR, Sep 13 (APP): Amid a rift between Gomal University (GU) Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iftikhar Ahmad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government over an issue of division of assets between Gomal University and the newly established Agriculture University DI Khan, former federal minister Ali Amin Gandapur has allegedly threatened the VC of dire consequences and demanded his immediate resignation.
The GU VC, in a letter available with APP, informed the KP governor regarding alleged life threats to him and his family from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader and sought his directives.
Meanwhile, a syndicate meeting of the university closed the institution for an indefinite period due to law and order situation, while the VC wrote the District Police Officer (DPO) to lodge a first information report against Ali Amin Gandapur for “directly threatening him and interfering in university affairs”, besides providing him security.
The VC, in the letter, complained to the governor that the ex-federal minister was intervening in the university’s affairs and provoking students being led by the ex-students as well against him and publicly supporting them by sending them “dinners and sound system for use in the university premises”.
The vice chancellor claimed that Gundapur, in a message sent to him on his whatsapp, asked him to resign while leveling allegations of causing damage to the university and the provincial government.
The VC quoted Gandapur saying in the message as,“You are a negative man with no self-respect and integrity. If you want to be by force thrown out of the institution you headed as with respect. I request you not to take the things to that level otherwise if I intervened and joined the students against your cruelty on them you will get a lesson. I think you want yourself to be handled accordingly.”
Dr Iftikhar claimed that Gandapur had started creating troubles through current and former students in the university through different means.
Meanwhile, Gandapur in an audio message to the students of Gomal University and people of DI Khan, also available with APP, admitted that there was confrontation between the VC and the provincial government for a long time over the issue of Agriculture University, alleging that the VC was creating hurdles in that regard.
Gandapur said the Agriculture University was an imperative project of the provincial government having immense importance especially for the D I Khan district, but the VC was intentionally delaying it.
He admitted that he sent a text message to the VC in his own language to tell him that he was not afraid of any one. He warned that he would go to any extent to oust the VC from the university.
It may be mentioned that the Gomal University VC and the syndicate have been insisting from the day the provincial cabinet approved the Agriculture University for D I Khan that under the law a sub-campus of the university could be converted to a full-fledged university, but an existing university could not be divided into two different universities by dividing the assets.
The KP government, former governor Shah Farman, acting Governor Mushtaq Ghani, Minister for Higher Education Kamran Bangash and now Ali Amin Gandpur are pressing the VC to accept the cabinet decision and hand over assets of the Gomal University to the Agriculture University.
Prof Dr Iftikhar, a leading Pakistani physicist, is among the top two percent scientists in the world ranking released by the Sandford University, United States.
The Government of Pakistan has bestowed upon a high civil award in recognition of his scholarly contribution and meritorious services in the field of education.
He has also served as Vice Chancellor of Abbottabad University of Science and Technology for three years, while his elder brother Prof Dr Habib Ahmad is also a former VC of historic Islamic College University Peshawar.
