LAHORE  -   The issue of resignation of Aitchison College Principal Michael A Thomson took another turn on Tuesday when the Federal Minister Ahad Cheema wrote a letter to Punjab governor informing him of his decision not to avail the fee waiver facility for his children. The federal minister, however, urged the governor to continue with the fee waiver policy for other students as it would benefit many parents and children.

Ahmad Cheema’s decision comes when the fee waiver policy announced by the Punjab governor on Monday faced a backlash from different quarters including parents of students studying at the Aitchison college.

“The new policy that waives off the fee when a student is not studying at the College is just, fair, equitable and against the traditional elitist mindset and therefore, is highly appreciat­ed amongst the general parent body,” Cheema stated in his let­ter to the governor. 

Ahad Cheema also said that his family had suffered mockery, slur and a vilification campaign in this episode just because of his being in public office. He claimed that Principal Thomson had of­fered him an individual relief through some respectable peo­ple, but his his family refused to take any “under-the-table deal” based on the principles. 

“The Principal’s brazen and high-headed refusal of Board’s and Chairman’s policy decisions is unheard of.”, he maintained. 

The resignation issue of Aitchi­son College Principal also echoed in the Punjab Assembly on Tues­day when Zulfiqar Ali Shah of the PML-N raised this issue on a point of order during the budget debate. He maintained that the resignation issue of Aitchison College Principal should have been resolved amicably and he should have been allowed to re­turn to his country with honor after completion of his tenure. 

Speaker Mohammad Ahmad Khan defended the governor’s decision saying that it was legal as the Board of Governor’s had also disagreed with the decision of the college Principal. He said that when Mr Thomson resigned a search committee had already been formed to decide on the is­sue of vacant seats of students. 

Also, parents of students and old Aitchisonians staged a pro­test demonstration outside Gov­ernor House in support of the college Principal. They demand­ed reversal of the governor’s or­der and restoration of Mr Thom­son as college Principal. They also called for an end to political meddling in the college affairs. 

In a related development, Punjab Governor Muhammad Balighur Rahman on Tuesday approved 28-day ex-Pakistan leave of Principal Aitchison Col­lege Michael A. Thomson. It is a clear indication that the Punjab governor has not accepted the resignation of Mr Thomson who wanted to leave the college from April 1, 2024 before completion of his tenure. 

In the absence of Principal Aitchison College, Amna Kam­ran and Khalid Noon Barsar will look after the administrative af­fairs in his place, according to a handout issued from Governor House. Out of 28-day leave, 18 days leave has been sanctioned for Mr Thomson’s visit to Turkey starting from April 1, 2024 and ending on April 18. Another 10-day leave starting from April 19, 2024 has been sanctioned by the governor to enable the Principal to travel to the UK to attend G30 Conference in connection with college affairs. 

Meanwhile, Punjab Gover­nor Muhammad Balighur Reh­man who is also the Chancellor of public sector universities has written a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to draw her attention for perma­nent appointments to the most important posts in universities across Punjab. In his letter the governor has stated that in the past appointments to the stat­utory posts were not made in time in the universities across Punjab. He noted that most im­portant positions of the univer­sities including vice chancellor, registrar, treasurers and con­troller of examinations are ly­ing vacant.