New Delhi: An English Composition and Comprehension question with clear incestuous undertones, set by a lecturer at COMSATS University Islamabad, has left Pakistanis fuming and has become the government’s “top priority”. The professor who set the question paper has been fired and an inquiry ordered by the Ministry of Science and Technology to punish “unscrupulous elements”.
A case against the professor has also been registered in the Shehzad Town police station in Islamabad.
The paper, meant for 1st year BS Engineering class and held in December last year, threw a scenario at students in which a brother and sister make love. It then asked students about their views on the situation described in the passage and whether it was okay for them to have indulged in such an act. The answer was sought in three parts and in not less than 300 words.
The passage read: “Julie and Mark are brother and sister. They are traveling together in France on summer vacation from college. One night they are staying alone in a cabin near the beach. They decided that it would be interesting and fun if they tried making love. At the very least, it would be a new experience for each of them. Julie was already taking birth control pills, and Mark uses a condom too, just to be safe. They both enjoy making love. But they decide never to do it again. They keep that night as a special secret which makes them feel even closer to each other.”
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Students were asked to explain why they thought it was okay for Julie and Mark to make love with each other, and to rationalise their answer using “relevant examples” and one’s own “personal opinion.”
The government has called the content of the quiz “highly objectionable” for “causing unrest among the families of the students.”
Calling this matter a top priority, the ministry has further asked the Rector of COMSATS University, Islamabad to take strict action against the person who is responsible and to submit their findings within the week.
The paper is attracting discussions in Pakistan on how a question paper in the university is usually set, and what kind of ratifications they go through.
The university has conveyed to the government that the lecturer Professor Khair ul Bashar, who set the paper, was terminated on 5 January 2023, and blacklisted from the university.
“It (the incident) is true and the university in a stern action has removed the teacher. The teacher told the inquiry committee that he copy-pasted a passage from a case study without properly reading it,” said Naveed Khan, the Additional Registrar of Comsat University.
Muhammad Altaf, the chairman of lawyers’ wing of Pakistan Ideological Party registered the police complaint and said that the vulgar questions hurt his religious sentiments. According to him, the question goes against Islamic values and teachings.
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On 20 February 2023, when the paper was leaked on social media, various famous personalities also came out against it, criticising the question paper calling it ‘filth’ and ‘objectionable’.
Ihtisham Ul Haq, a Pakistani journalist reacted, saying: “What happened in Comsats doesn’t even happen here in the West. Don’t blame West for everything.”
Shama Junejo, a researcher and writer also said, “I have lived & studied in West since decades, my children have studied in UK since their childhood, I have never seen or read any such filth, what I read in this examination of COMSATS university to promote incest. Whoever designed it, is a sick bastard & must be removed immediately.”
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)