Academic Freedom: In context of LUMS ControversyDefinition of Academic Freedom Academic freedom is basically the freedom of inquiry and research and to discover and promulgate new ideas no matter how controversial. History of Academic Freedom Academic freedom began as a concept in Germany in the late 19th Century and then spread to America in the early 20th Century. Earlier it was thought that the universities at that time were proprietary; professors were understood to be the employees of whoever owned the university, whether that was a private university or the state. But as professors began to conceive of themselves not as mere employees, but as professional scholars who were answerable to the professional judgment of their peers, they began to create the idea of academic freedom. According to the modern concept of academic freedom, once a university teacher is appointed, he/she is answerable to public only and not the appointing authority. Management of university has not moral right and competency to intervene in the affairs of teacher.

Academic Freedom in PakistanPakistan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees these fundamental freedoms and rights. These rights are also guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan, notably in its articles 16, 17, 19 and 19a. But unfortunately Pakistan is a total stranger to academic freedom. Those who disagree with the official line of state on national and international matters have to face the threat of dismissal, harassment and even cold-blooded murder. Few weeks ago, we saw the whole LUMS controversy, which I will discuss later. Recently, a professor of Karachi University was murdered. Recently, The Punjab Higher Education Commission warned universities to do not conduct anti-culture and anti-Pakistan research. The circular states that security agencies have pointed out that research topics given to some students are anti-Pakistan and anti-cultural in nature. It also reads that academia should play a constructive role in nurturing nationalism amongst the youth of this country. Under the banner of national security and using the rhetoric of the war of terror, academic freedom is compromised again and again. As a result, an environment of learning, creativity, imagination, and critique has not been developed properly.

LUMS Controversy

An event scheduled at LUMS had to be cancelled at the last minute on orders from the government. The "who?" and "why?" are clear to the wise. The event was a panel discussion on Baluchistan and one of the speakers was Mama Qadeer. Abdul Qadeer Baloch is a Baloch activist. He is the founder of a group working for information on people who have disappeared during the long-running conflict between the government and Baloch separatist movements. What followed was the nation-wide debate on whether the establishment was justified in its action or not. Some people even hacked the website of LUMS. A smear campaign against the professors of LUMS started. ShameLUMS hashtag started trending on twitter. As a response, supporters of LUMS started using hashtag of freedom4LUMS. I am going to present the arguments of the supporters of the decisions and then I will present counterargument one by one.

Argument 1: The panel was completely one-sided.Counter Argument: They are right. The panel is one-sided, essentially giving the view of the people who have an agreement on some (certainly, not all) fundamental matters regarding the relationship of the Pakistan state with Baluchistan. However, the key question is: does a University have a commitment to objectivity or impartiality in arranging public debates? Should the counterview always be present, and presented in the same time and space? Particularly, when it is a panel discussion which is not mandatory and any student can choose to attend or not or of course attend and challenge the speakers. For the sake of clarity, the primary counterview is that of the State and the security forces. LUMS can legitimately argue that all it was doing in the first place was providing a counterview. The view of the State is inescapable, from television screens to school curriculum, and by the time they get to University most students can narrate the official point of view almost on auto-pilot.

Argument No. 2: Universities should be nationalist and patriotic.Counterargument: Is that even possible? If that is the aim, whose brand of patriotism will a university espouse? Should Universities have a singular commitment to National Interest? This reminds one of many Pakistani journalists who openly proclaim that their first commitment is to the National Interest; utterly bizarre is it not? For a journalist, first commitment should be facts and facts only and similarly the first commitment of university should be to encourage a spirit of inquiry among its students and faculty.

Argument No.4: If universities like LUMS believe in academic freedom, why dont they invite Fazulullah, Mullah Aziz, and so on. Another version of the argument is, if LUMS believes in academic freedom, why you dont invite DG ISPR.

If a list of invited speakers is put together, it would clearly show that the vast majority of speakers are in fact pro-state, pro-corporate, and pro-neoliberal speakers. The principle of academic freedom does not mean that any university is obligated to call this or that speaker. Simply put, this was blatant interference in LUMS' decisions and activities, a condemnable silencing of another attempt to 'unsilence' voices from Baluchistan. That a discussion in a private university in an urban provincial capital poses a threat and can shake up the corridors of power, says much about the state of academic freedom in this country.

Why academic freedom is important?The necessity of academic freedom in Pakistan can be justified in several ways. First, the pursuit of truth. We must protect ideas that may be unpopular, controversial or without immediate practical benefit in order. Second, one can argue that academic freedom is necessary to benefit human welfare which depends on the discovery and propagation of new knowledge. Since we cannot predict which knowledge will be helpful in the future, all new knowledge should be protected. academic freedom is also important to the larger community because it gives assurance that academics in all areas of expertise are expected to challenge what we think we know and to push the boundaries of what is known. Governments, religious authorities, agencies including ISI, university administrations, donors none of these should be allowed to control the development and dissemination of knowledge even if it makes them uncomfortable. Universities are curators of the educational process whose sanctity must be defended against all attempts to place curbs on it.