LUMS faculty condemns arrest of PU faculty members

Appeal by teachers of the Lahore University of Management Sciences against the Intimidation and Harassment of faculty members of Punjab University.

23 November 2007

As a continuation of the attack on all civil institutions, and in line with Extra-Constitutional Rule, Gen. Musharraf and the interim Government of Punjab have instituted sedition charges against 14 members of the academic staff of Punjab University.

The FIR against them, under sections 124-A, 188, 143/149 and 16-MPO, was registered at the Muslim Town Police station. They have been charged with sedition and provoking the masses against the government for its action of imposing emergency and promulgating the PCO. The FIR was registered after the above teachers had taken part in demonstrations against the suspension of the constitution, the promulgation of emergency and for the restoration of the constitution and the judiciary. These were peaceful protests held inside the campus.

The academic staff of Punjab University is continuing its protest against the government and the Chancellor of the university and is demanding the withdrawal of FIRs against all 14 members of faculty.

The undersigned faculty members of the Lahore University of Management Sciences condemn the attempt, through harassment and intimidation, to silence voices of reason whose only fault is their desire to restore democracy and the rule of law in Pakistan. We also condemn extra Constitutional Rule that suspends academia’s and the wider citizenries’ constitutional rights of freedom of assembly and association.

We demand the withdrawal of the charges against the faculty members of Punjab University. We express solidarity with our colleagues at Punjab University and all citizens engaged in the just struggle to end the state of emergency, restore the constitution and the rule of law, the lifting of the ban on the press and the restoration of the Supreme Court and the Judiciary.

Signatories to appeal:

Syed Aun Abbas
Asad Abidi
Nasir Afghan
Khurram Afridi
Shazia Afzal
Zeeshan Ahmed
Asad Alam
Syed Mubashir Ali
Syed Zahid Ali
Naveed Arshad
Hassan Azad
Sadaf Aziz
Shahab Baqai
Faisal Bari
Mohammad Basharullah
Faqir Bhatti
Shaukat Brah
Abid Burki
Aslam Butt
Ali Cheema
Saeed Ghazi
Syed Nomanul Haq
Ehsan ul Haque
Omair Haroon
Syed Zahoor Hassan
Faheem Hussain
Turab Hussain
Wasiq Hussain
Jahangir Ikram
M. Ashraf Iqbal
Faheem ul Islam
Tariq M. Jadoon
Zaeem Jafri
Asim Karim
Furrukh Khan
Jamshed H. Khan
Maryam Khan
Jawwad S. Khawaja
Miguel Loureiro
Shahid Masud
Shandana Mohmand
Khalid Mir
Nabil Mustafa
Shehreen Najam
M. Farooq Naseer
Anjum Nasim
Roger Normand
Manasa Patnam
Taimur Rahman
Rasul Baksh Rais
Hassna Ramay
Khalid Rasheed
Imran Rashid
Reehana Raza
Masood H. Shah
Sultan Sial
Osama Siddique
Sarah Zaidi
Tasneem Zehra
Nouman Zubair