The Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi has expelled one of its students for exposing an alleged case of on-campus harassment.
A statement issued by IBA detailed that its disciplinary committee had decided to expel the student, namely Muhammad Jibrail, from the BS Economics program to “ensure the safety of students” and to “address their concerns in a timely manner”.
“Did Not Follow Standard Procedures”
It said that Jibrail had posted details of the incident on social media without following standard operating procedures like filing a complaint with any of the committees or offices.
The university clearly stated in its statement that sharing details of an alleged incident on social media without knowing the context of the situation is against the rules and regulations of the institution.
IBA claimed that the student had used the details and a picture of its employee “even before the victim filed an official complaint which led to endangering the physical and psychological safety of the employee, his coworkers, and the department”.
The university believes that Jibrail had reported the matter to defame the institute and that his actions have aggravated the situation, leading students to stage protests against IBA. It has threatened the security of protestors and the university’s administration.
Spreading Alleged Misinformation
The statement by the university maintained that Jibrail has spread misinformation and twisted facts by using communication mediums outside IBA. He not only tried to influence the decisions of the relevant committees but also endangered the physical and psychological safety of other students, staff members, and faculty.
IBA explained that Jibrail was counseled by different members of the university but he refused to follow the protocols that are expected to be followed by every member of the university.
The institute had also given him:
Multiple occasions to reconsider his actions and was counseled numerous times to reassess his actions. Having failed to do that, the Disciplinary Committee has decided to expel the student as the IBA has a zero-tolerance policy towards the violation of its rules and regulations.
IBA stated that it is an institution known for its rules, regulations, and code of conduct which all its members, and students must follow.
Its statement mentioned that previously, “all issues brought to any of the platforms have been resolved following the rules and regulations of the competent authorities”.
The university further explained that it has provided students with channels they can opt for to raise their issues, however, if they don’t opt for those channels and go for other mediums then it can negatively impact the values and standards of IBA, and the administration has zero-tolerance for it.
It also acknowledged that IBA does encourage its students to highlight issues that concern them and the community. It affirmed that it takes such matters seriously and has a community comprising senior professors, management, and experts, including many women, to investigate such them as per the IBA/Higher Education Commission’s policy of anti-harassment via the Anti-Harassment Committee.
University Committee is Investigating The Issue
It also declared that its Anti-Harassment Committee is investigating the case as per the IBA and Higher Education Commission (HEC) rules, regulations, and procedures.
However, the university maintained in its statement that they do not jump to conclusions on the basis of hearsay. They always follow the process, before taking a final decision.
Jibrail had shared the details of a harassment incident that he had witnessed at the institution on his Facebook account on 5 August. He said that a few days ago he visited the finance department of IBA where he witnessed a disgusting incident.
Jibrail explained that it was workplace harassment of a female employee of the IBA in the Finance department, and involved yelling and ridiculing.
His post further read: “As a citizen of this country, this is my duty in letter and spirit to report this crap of society whenever I will observe no matter who the hell he is”.
It makes sense that the person complaining should have gone to proper channels first before going on social network. Social network should always be a last resort as it means that justice wasn’t served by the people through proper channels.