Harrasment is the most tragic incident that has taken place in any educational institution in Pakistan in recent times. Nadia Ashraf, a promising student of Dr. Panjuani Center for Molecular Medicine and Research, Karachi University, committed suicide after being harassed by her PhD supervisor Dr. Iqbal Chaudhry.
After this incident, panic has spread among the students in Dr. Panjwani Center. The country’s higher authorities should take stern notice of this incident so that it can be known what were the reasons that Nadia Ashraf, despite being a worthy researcher, has not been able to complete her PhD in the last 15 years.The reasons that Nadia Ashraf used to tell her close friends were that: “Dr. Iqbal Chaudhry will not allow me to have a PhD”.“Don’t know what the doctor wants from me.”
These are the words that Nadia Ashraf uttered in her immediate circle before committing suicide. Nadia Ashraf’s close circle also says that Dr. Iqbal Chaudhry had imposed his favorite incompetent faculty Dr. Atiya Al-Wahab on Nadia to further harass her. Which made her very upset. Nadia had also revealed that when she took a job in another research organization, Iqbal Chaudhry also tried to terminate Nadia Ashraf’s job there. Nadia Ashraf rejoined Panjwani Center, submitted her dissertation with PhD extension but Iqbal Chaudhry annoyed her further and asked her to take another six-month extension. A compelled girl took the extension again but Nadia Ashraf did not have the strength to compete with Dr. Iqbal Chaudhry, the illegal director of the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, Karachi University, which has been occupied for 17 years. The result was that Nadia Ashraf, a helpless girl living alone with her mother, embraced death. This article is not written to wake up the authorities of Karachi University because waking up is done to the sleeping people and not to the men. Dr. Iqbal Chaudhry and independent sources do not confirm these allegations, but the question remains why the promising student who was doing research on a disease like cancer, would commit suicide? After more than twenty years of education, why would she commit suicide now?Is there any obstacle for the university to send a student to France for higher research then to do her PhD for so many years? If this student kept telling Dr. Iqbal about her problems, then why did an educated student commit suicide leaving her mother alone? It needs to be investigated.