LAHORE – Aitchison College Principal Michael Thompson resignation hascreated a new controversy in the town.
He has resigned from his position following a controversy over theexpulsion of the son of a former parliamentarian, Kashmala Tariq.
12 students, including Kashmala’s son, were involved in a minor scuffleduring mock exams for O-levels. Taking disciplinary action, the schooldecided that all 12 boys would not be allowed admission to A-levels.
However, when the school reopened after the summer holidays, it wasreportedly revealed that out of the 12 boys, only Kashmala’s son had beenrefused admission to the next class.
Kashmala Tariq had moved a complaint against Principal Thompson to PunjabGovernor Chaudhry Sarwar soon after he took oath last week. The Punjabgovernor also holds the chair of the Board of Governors of AitchisonCollege.
Sources said that Kashmala had accused the principal of unfairly expellingher son from the school despite her requests for an impartial inquiry intothe incident. The governor reportedly sought a report on the issue fromThompson and also formed a three-member committee to investigate the case.
Objecting to the chairman’s ‘unilateral’ decision of launching a probeagainst him, Principal Thompson resigned from his post, saying he could not“work in such circumstances”.
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Interestingly, Principal Thomson had already communicated the ongoingtussle with Kashmala Tariq in writing to the Punjab governor but it hadsomehow failed to reach him.
Three-member probe committee was formed due to a “miscommunication” betweenthe chairman and Principal Thompson.
“The principal’s letter regarding the issue did not reach the chairman’sdesk, therefore, he was not aware of the situation beforehand. WhenKashmala Tariq filed her complaint, the governor set up a three-membercommittee to probe the matter and report back to him,” he said.
Ali Salman added that efforts were being made to resolve the issue amicablybetween all the parties involved. “We are hoping for a breakthrough onThursday,” he said.
Sources said that a delegation of old Aitchisonians had also visitedGovernor Sarwar on Wednesday to urge him not to accept Thompson’sresignation.
