70 teaching staff from Kabul university resign over appointment of new VC by Taliban

Kabul University’s teaching staff, around 70 including assistant professors and professors have resigned after the new rulers of Afghanistan, Taliban on September 22 sacked PhD holder Vice-Chancellor Muhammad Osman Baburi. His position was replaced by a BA degree holder, Muhammad Ashraf Ghairat. However, Ghairat’s appointment as the Vice-Chancellor of the biggest university in Kabul has triggered protests on social media. His critics even drew attention to Ghairat’s post about justifying the killing of journalists posted last year.

As per ANI, Afghans are furious over the new VC of Kabul University who is a young bachelor degree holder after the post was vacated by an intellectual, experienced PhD holder. Kabul University is also the very first university in Afghanistan. Reportedly, several people including Taliban members have denounced Ghairat’s appointment claiming that there were more eligible people than him.

Ghairat is said to have been employed in the Ministry of Education in the previous government. He was the head of the assessment body of universities of IEA in the southwestern part of Afghanistan. 

Name of university named after Rabbani changed

Before the appointment of Kabul University’s VC, the Taliban on Monday officially changed the name of another government university in the name of Burhanuddin Rabbani to Kabul Education University. Burhanuddin Rabbani served as the former Afghan President and is also the founder of Afghanistan’s second-biggest political party.

The university was named after Rabbani after he was killed in a suicide attack in his home in 2009. According to the official directive released by the Ministry of Higher education, universities are intellectual assets and hence, should not be named after political or even ethnic leaders. Reportedly, the directive also stated that lingual, regional and ethnic discrimination has prevailed in the South Asian country in the last 20 years and that the national places were named based on them.

Additionally, the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan also removed Wahid Majrooh, who was the last remaining minister from former President Ashraf Ghani’s cabinet. As per ANI, Majrooh was replaced by Qalandar Ebad as the acting Minister of Public Health on September 21. The former minister confirmed his removal on social media. 

(With ANI inputs)

Image: AP