Exploitation of Chitralis at SBBU cannot be tolerated: MPAs

CHITRAL, April 19: MPA Saleem Khan from lower Chitral and MPA-elect from upper Chitral Sardar Hussain visited the Chitral campus of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University and took serious notice of unavailability of vital resources. Speaking on the occasion, they voiced serious concern over the evident discrimination shown by the university administration since the inception of the campus. They said there are about 40 degree colleges in Chitral which are affiliated with the university and ‘feed’ it, while in Dir Upper there are only three affiliated colleges. But in the case of Chitral, the university administration has not provided to the campus even the vitally needed resources like library, laboratories, internet facility, transportation, hostel and even a backup generator. “This disproportionate treatment on the part of the university administration at Sheringal is frustrating and disturbing, especially in the back cloth of the whopping revenue the university gets from Chitral,” they said. Sardar Hussain added: “This unfair treatment and sheer discrimination on the part of the administration at Sheringal will no longer be tolerated. The unavailability of vitally important resources at the campus of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University is tantamount to ridiculing the name of the personality after whom it is named. We, simply, cannot tolerate it.” He further voiced his concern and strong reservation over the fact that at Sheringal there are hardly 200 students enrolled in about fifteen departments with almost all regular faculty members: lecturers, assistant professors and professors, while at Chitral campus there are only four departments with a surprising enrolment of about five hundred students with no faculty appointed on regular basis. All lecturers are serving on contract basis for the last three years although they have been selected through Selection Board. He vociferously vowed to visit the university’s main campus at Sheringal and seek explanation from the administration for this frustrating exploitation and violation of human rights. ‘We both are committed to raise the issue in the assembly, court, media and streets till we snatch Chitral’s right to obtain an independent university.’ MPA Saleem Khan in his speech said ‘Equally disturbing is the fact that the university has given disproportionate representation to Chitral in the syndicate body, as there is only one syndicate member from Chitral while there are about 11 members from Dir Upper. This very fact clears all doubts about why Chitral campus is denied the fundamental rights and resources, and why Sheringal and Wari campuses are promoted even with pathetically low intake of students.’ He vowed to demand ‘proportionate-to-the-stake’ representation of Chitral in the Syndicate Body. It is worth mentioning here that the two university campuses, namely Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Univesity Chitral Campus and Abdul Wali Khan University Chitral Campus had been established in 2011 by the ANP-PPP coalition government. The Bacha Khan campus, which is housed in a leased college building, has been provided with almost all necessary resources by the university administration at Mardan, while SBBU Chitral campus, which is housed in a congested rented building, has been denied even the fundamental requirements and resources ever since, despite the huge amount of revenue the university gets from Chitral in the form of all affiliated colleges’ fees, examination admission fees, and tuition fees of enrolled students and registration fees.]]>