[/caption]Ernest Dempsey - A criminal complaint of harassment has been filed by an assistant professor at the Law College, University of Peshawar, against a group of students that raided the college and forced their way up to the complainant’s office on May 24, 201, as Facebook postings had further exacerbated tensions, revealing how social media impacts events in many ways across the world.
The complaint also charges the university’s Vice Chancellor and two other officials for instigating the students for harassment.
In an email update to officials and a few media sources, May 24, 2011, Mr. Muhamamd Zubair brought to their attention the instance of a potentially dangerous raid into the Law College by a group of more than 20 students, led by one named Tariq Afghan. According the complaint, registered the same day by Zubair against the alleged bullies, the students forced their way inside the college premises at around noon, shouting slogans and profanities against Zubair in an angry tone, and walked up to his office. Being suspended from his services, Zubair happened to be home at that time. He received a call from the college’s informing him about the incident.
Worried about his and his family’s safety, Zubair rushed to the police station and narrated what he had been told. The concerned police inspector of the campus police station accompanied Zubair to the college where students and staff confirmed the harassing raid of students. Following this, Zubair submitted a written compliant of harassment against the students led by Tariq Afghan and some university officials, including: the Vice Chancellor (VC), the Registrar, and an assistant professor named Ahmed Ali Aijaz of the Department of Pashto. The three officials have been accused of instigating the students for harassing Zubair.
The latest incident follows the wake of a growing conflict between the university’s administration and Zubair who was suspended from service on charges of misconduct and involvement in politics while he adheres to his stance that he has been suspended by the VC because he blew the whistle of his plagiarized PhD research, published as a book. Later, a Facebook page slammed a group of four or five teachers, including Zubair, as sexual predators that harass female students. In his complaint against the VC and students, Zubair also mentioned that he was being defamed by the same group with postings made on Facebook under fake IDs.
Zubair stated in his complaint that he is reporting the incident in order to let the police take necessary corrective measures. Soon after the complaint was made, the defamatory Facebook postings disappeared.
Social media has become a mainstay in the new ways of interactions, both positive and negative, reflecting how the world stage has become smaller and more intimate by these incidents.
