July 4, 2008 (Peshawar, Pakistan)

The hoax of faculty development at the National Center of Excellence in Geology (NCEG), University of Peshawar is coming to light as the cold war between their faculty members is entering the stage of physical assaults. The first instance of physical attack took place today when a research associate Abdul Karin Khan, known as Ernest Dempsey in the writing and publishing world, was targeted by another research associate Liaqat Ali (shown in the photo), after Karim causally asked Liaqat about his PhD research.

Like other PhD scholarship awardees, Liaqat and his wife Seema Anjum have moved to the University of Manchester for earning PhDs in earth sciences. However, they have shown no progress in their studies and Karim’s question inadvertently invoked the defensive devil in Liaqat’s mind. Rumors have it that

In the office of their colleague Asher Samuel, Liaqat grew bitter over the question, finally standing up to attack Karim with a heavy marble ash tray, which missed its target and struck Asher in the back of his head. As their colleagues got between the two angry faculty members, Liaqat kept threatening his target and, interestingly, went straight to see the acting director of the institute Dr. Tahir Shah at his office (in the off hours). Dr. Shah is a close associate of Liaqt Ali and the latter has received many favors from Dr. Shah by showing loyalty and blind subordination. Also, Dr. Shah is said to have done a lot in securing Liaqat a PhD scholarship and recruiting his wife into the center’s faculty. Interestingly, just a couple of days ago, Karim received a coercive letter from Dr. Shah, ordering him to quit ‘insubordination’ and follow all orders. Karim, who has been critical of authoritative abuse, has repeatedly defied coercive and discriminatory measures prevalent in the center.

Way beyond an accidental argument, the assault on Karim is the beginning of an open manifestation of favoritism and coercion that have secretly been going on in the NCEG for decades. Younger faculty members, serving as research associates, have to become the putty of one or more senior faculty members in order to get promotions and secure a permanent position at the institute. Speaking against the director or senior professors leads to persecution and, more recently, physical violence within the NCEG – one of the leading postgraduate research institutes in the country.