On Wednesday (September 29), the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi expelled a final year student after he exposed an alleged case of harassment that took place on campus.
The university’s decision has welcomed strong criticism and backlash on the Internet. Many netizens have been protesting against the campus administration over the "gross overreaction" and calling out the university for the decision to be immediately reversed.
Reacting to the news, leading Pakistani actress Mahira Khan has expressed her distress to IBA Karachi’s decision. Taking to Twitter, she wrote, “Shameful. Sad”, while sharing the news report of the incident.
Prominent politician and media personality Sharmila Faruqui also tweeted her concerns over the incident. "His crime was to speak against injustice and [for] women’s rights. Disgusted and appalled by this action by IBA Karachi," PPP leader tweeted angrily.
"This is a gross overreaction from IBA which must be set right," journalist Zarrar Khuhro tweeted. "Such measures can and will only backfire."
Activist and lawyer, Jibran Nasir, who was the first to highlight the incident on various social media platforms, also tweeted, “Netizens protest #IBA Karachi’s ‘shameful’ decision to expel student for exposing alleged harassment.”
Final year student Mohammad Jibrail witnessed a female employee of the university’s finance department being allegedly harassed by a male employee in a supervisory position. He shared about the incident in a Facebook post and was expelled for not using the "right channels that are expected to be followed" by the institute, according to a statement shared on IBA's Facebook page.
