Turns out that yesterday’s case about FAST University Lahore expelling its students was about more than some ‘harmless’ memes. According to well-placed sources, the expelled students were found guilty of making sexually suggestive memes about a female faculty member.
Based on the wildly inappropriate nature of these images, FAST University Lahore has demanded an apology and threatened action against students.
In any case, abuse and harassment is not OK. The students have a lot to answer for.
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Netizens also support action against those elements who created such explicit memes, and called for the content to be removed.
https://twitter.com/LahoriElite/status/1277656335954427907
Exactly. What I heard of these memes was very disturbing. And calling them 'memes' just made it sound much lighter than saying cyber abuse.
— Empire Slayer (@Cereal_Twit) June 29, 2020
That's disgusting. That's not memes. That's abusive content which should be removed from any digital space immediately.
— M.Ahmed Sohail (@m_ahmedsohail) June 29, 2020
Not the first time
If this incident gives you a sense of deja vu, here’s why.
A few months ago, there was a similar group on Facebook by students belonging to the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). The group regularly posted sexist memes that targeted the female members of the elite university.
However, Netizens also spilled the tea on how FAST Lahore doesn’t have a great track record for dealing with harassment.
ANONYMOUS POST: An ex student of FAST Lahore reached out and asked me to post her story. University administrations MUST reflect on internal policies on harassment. More power to this wonderful woman and she hopes it’ll give courage to others! pic.twitter.com/V63azYNs1A
— Nayab Jan (@NayabGJan) June 27, 2020
Even former staff members posted their accounts being coerced by the administration.
Another day, another reason for #shameOnFAST
Miss Maryam Kamal was my TA in 2nd semester while Miss Sidra Basharat has been a well reputed teacher at FAST Lahore for the past 12 years… Well before she resigned a year ago. @hecpkofficial @am_nawazish @Shafqat_Mahmood pic.twitter.com/L8oVQuCuvm— Abdul Wasey (@abdul_waseyy) June 29, 2020
Journalist Zarrar Khuhro had this to say:
Just got to see the FAST memes via @LahoriElite that the admin is objecting to and while I first thought this was heavy-handed, having seen the memes I have to say that they are indeed actionable. Libelous, even. This is not a student's rights or free speech issue.
— Zarrar Khuhro (@ZarrarKhuhro) June 29, 2020
However, there is a caveat here that people have pointed out. The onus is on the FAST admin to ensure that justice is done, and not used to target people who are not responsible for the controversy in the first place.
And now am being told that action was taken not against the ones posted the objectionable memes but others. So yes, this must not be used as an excuse for blanket action and the process should be transparent
— Zarrar Khuhro (@ZarrarKhuhro) June 29, 2020
How can one be sure that these are not the work of someone else after the matter, and really was the content that these kids made? There are two different sets of "content" flying around. I propose the university share the content just as blatantly as they named the kids involved
— Winter Coffee (@winterdakhan) June 29, 2020
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Some people even alleged that those being reprimanded for the memes and those that created the memes are two sets of people.
I believe you have seen those vile 'memes' and also the DC list. Compare the names of people sharing those memes with the names in the DC notice. You might find one name only. The people who shared & people against whom action is called are two different groups
— haseeb (@haseebelaahi) June 29, 2020
It is hoped that students should learn that there are red lines that should not be crossed. Similarly, the FAST university administration should ensure that only the guilty party is charged and no one else.
