Hit hard by a “vilification campaign” against him and his family, Pakistan’s Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Cheema on Tuesday withdrew his application from Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman seeking a leave of absence from Aitchison College and a complete fee waiver for a period of three years.
Cheema however urged the governor to continue the controversial fee policy for the Aitchison College students. The Aitchison College fee waiver issue came into the limelight on Monday when college principal Michael A. Thompson resigned from his post, citing interference from the Punjab Governor’s House in the college’s affairs.
Thompson tendered his resignation in protest after the Punjab governor allowed Cheema’s two children a leave of absence and a complete fee waiver for a period of three years. It’s worth mentioning here that Cheema and the Punjab governor belong to the same political party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which is in power in the Centre as well as in Punjab.
Defending the governor’s decision, Cheema said there was nothing wrong with the governor’s order. Talking to a news channel, Cheema said the governor had made a “general policy” for everyone. He said the policy approved by the college’s board was meant for the children of all civil servants and other people who face problems due to their transfer to other cities. He said that his wife sent an application to the governor for fee waiver, the governor forwarded her application to the Aitchison College’s board of governors and the board approved the fee waiver.
In a letter to the Punjab governor on Tuesday, Cheema said the new policy of giving a fee waiver if a student is not studying at the college is “just, fair, equitable and against the traditional elitist mindset”. He said the governor should “not withdraw the new policy under any nefarious pressure” as the policy would help students and their parents in future.
He however said that his family had “suffered mockery, slur and a vilification campaign” after Aitchison College principal’s resignation. “Under these circumstances, I wish to convey that I do not want to avail this facility for my children howsoever rightful I may be and just and fair the policy may be,” he said.
