Chandigarh: Lone Afghan student in Panjab University to get PhD degree today
Among those receiving PhD degrees will be a daily wager of Panjab University, an assistant commandant of the Indo Tibetan Border Police and a polio survivor
The 72nd annual convocation at Panjab University (PU) will mark a solemn point for the relationship between PU and Afghan students as Zahid Aria, the “solo remaining Afghan student” in the university, will be awarded his PhD degree on Wednesday.
Aria, who hails from Panjshir in northern Afghanistan, says he was one of the founding members of the Afghan Students’ Unity Group, Punjab and Chandigarh. He said he is the last student from Afghanistan enrolled on the main campus ever since the Taliban takeover of his country in 2021. Since then, most students have gone back and never returned to further pursue their education in PU.
Aria was enrolled in the PU’s department of Defence & National Security Studies. He has finished his PhD on ‘India Afghanistan strategic partnership post 2001, a critical appraisal’. He started his PhD in 2019. “My PhD work had slowed down due to Covid. I had gone back. Just weeks after I returned, the Taliban takeover took place in Afghanistan. I have been here since then,” he said.
Aria lives in Sector 37 with his wife Zeba and a daughter. He had a son when he was in Afghanistan but had to leave him in his parents’ care when he travelled back to India in 2021. He hasn’t seen him since then.
Now that his degree is over, Aria doesn’t want to go back. “It is not safe there. I have been sending my resumé out to various colleges and universities, trying to get a teaching job,” he said, adding that he has a research scholar visa so can’t take up any other work.
ITBP officer’s hectic journey
A serving assistant commandant of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Azad Singh Punia is also set to get his PhD. Punia was a research scholar with the PU department of history.
While he had started his PhD in 2015, thesis was difficult for him as it was on scientist and educationist Ruchi Ram Sahani from pre-partitioned Punjab. “For the past two years I was posted at Jorsing in Arunachal Pradesh, which is right beside the Line of Control. The closest village with internet was 96-km away so my course work did suffer,” he said.
The past week has been especially hectic for the officer. He had his viva exam just one day before the rehearsal. He got married just five days before his viva. His wife Dr Sapna is a deputy commandant-rank senior medical officer with ITBP and posted in Andhra Pradesh.
Polio survivor for post-doctoral research
A research scholar in University Institute of Applied Management Studies (UIAMS), Sanjeev Sharma (a polio victim) of Kharar did his PhD on competency-based management systems. Now, he hopes to pursue post-doctoral research on workforce disability management. While he has been on wheelchair since birth, he hopes it becomes easier for those who are differently-abled to pursue their higher education in the coming years.
PU daily wager’s feat
Parveen Kumar, who works as a common room attendant at PU, will also get his PhD. He had been a daily wager since 2007. His PhD is on ‘Livelihood and food security of slum dwellers in Punjab’ — A study from Gandhian perspective’ from the same department where he works. PU officials said there has been no record of a daily wager of the university securing a PhD from here. Kumar spoke about how difficult it was for him to balance his research with his work responsibilities.
Students decry saffronisation of convocation attire
While this is the first time that PU has updated its convocation attire from the traditional gown to Nehru jackets with phulkari embroidery, different colours have been given to the jacket, like red for the PhD awardees and saffron for UG/PG medalists. Students decried ‘saffronisation’ of the convocation attire. Sath Party stated it was a trick by the RSS to leave its imprint on the PU convocation. Some of the Nehru jackets available on rent show have misspelled PU’s name as ‘Punjab University’ which also many students have objected to.