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'Staff resignations, 2020 tweet on scribes': Storm over appointment of Ashraf Ghairat as Kabul University's V-C
The Taliban-led government sacked vice-chancellor Muhammad Osman Baburi and replaced him with Muhammad Ashraf Ghairat, according to a report by the Khaama Press News Agency late on Wednesday.
Around 70 teaching staff of the prestigious Kabul University in Afghanistan resigned from their posts after the Taliban-led government sacked vice-chancellor Muhammad Osman Baburi and replaced him with Muhammad Ashraf Ghairat, according to a report by the Khaama Press News Agency late on Wednesday.
Osman Baburi is a PhD holder while Ghairat has only a bachelor of arts (BA) degree.
It is said that Ghairat was a part of the education ministry in the previous Afghanistan government and was also the head of the assessment body of universities of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in the southwestern part of the country, according to the Khaama Press report.
His appointment as the Kabul University's vice-chancellor raised a storm on social media platforms, as people were angered over a young Ashraf Ghairat replacing an experienced and established Baburi as the head of the finest and the first university in Afghanistan.
The university has meanwhile said that Ghiarat is only the acting vice-chancellor and the top post can be reshuffled anytime.
Several people, including some in the Taliban, have censured the decision by saying that there are more eligible people than Ghairat.
Critics also posted a 2020 tweet of Ghairat where he justified the killing of journalists in the war-ravaged country.
“A tweet by the new Taliban Chancellor of Kabul University: A spy journalist is more dangerous than a hundred Arbaki (Local Police/Paramilitary). I doubt the faith of those who restrain from killing journalists. Kill Spy Journalists. Contain Media,” Sami Mahdi, a journalist and a lecturer at Kabul University, wrote on the microblogging site on Wednesday.
Amid the widespread criticism, Ashraf Ghairat shared a series of tweets where he asked his critics to inquire about him and his academic background.
"Do I hold a bachelor degree? Yes, I graduated from the journalism faculty of KU, in the year 2008. Do I have enough experience to run KU? Yes, I have almost 15 years of experience working in different parts of IEA, I was a key member of the cultural commission of IEA," the newly appointed vice-chancellor tweeted on Wednesday.
