The principal of Pakistan’s most famous school has been virtually
confined to his on-campus bungalow for a month following a bitter
falling out with the board of governors, who he says object to reforms
that allegedly cost the grandchildren of some of the most powerful men
in the country coveted places.
Agha Ghazanfar, a distinguished academic and former senior bureaucrat, is banned by a high court order from running Aitchison college or even walking on the extensive lawns of its vast campus in Lahore.
He has said he is filling his time writing a “prisoner’s diary” about the bizarre limbo he is caught up in after taking legal action against the college’s decision in July to sack him just seven months after he took over.
Although the Lahore high court initially overturned Ghanzanfar’s dismissal, it later ruled that he could not do his job while legal action grinds on – but could use his official residence.
Established by the British in 1886 to teach princelings, Aitchison remains a bastion of the country’s elite, with many senior figures educated in its grand buildings.
Speaking to the Guardian from his home in the school grounds, Ghazanfar described the school as “like a microcosm of the country as a whole”, claiming that is “rife with corruption, mismanagement and nepotism”.
He said: “Before I came I was told the biggest challenge will be withstanding the pressure of politicians, rich businessman, people who command huge amounts of resources because the tradition was that seats could be purchased.”
Ghazanfar arrived in December after his long-standing predecessor stepped down amid controversy about entrance exam results being allegedly fudged to favour the low-scoring children of powerful alumni.
At the time the then governor of Punjab province, the former Glasgow MP Mohammad Sarwar, had caused consternation among many alumni by pushing for a strict merit-only entry system that ignored traditional considerations of “kinship”.
Agha Ghazanfar, a distinguished academic and former senior bureaucrat, is banned by a high court order from running Aitchison college or even walking on the extensive lawns of its vast campus in Lahore.
He has said he is filling his time writing a “prisoner’s diary” about the bizarre limbo he is caught up in after taking legal action against the college’s decision in July to sack him just seven months after he took over.
Although the Lahore high court initially overturned Ghanzanfar’s dismissal, it later ruled that he could not do his job while legal action grinds on – but could use his official residence.
Established by the British in 1886 to teach princelings, Aitchison remains a bastion of the country’s elite, with many senior figures educated in its grand buildings.
Speaking to the Guardian from his home in the school grounds, Ghazanfar described the school as “like a microcosm of the country as a whole”, claiming that is “rife with corruption, mismanagement and nepotism”.
He said: “Before I came I was told the biggest challenge will be withstanding the pressure of politicians, rich businessman, people who command huge amounts of resources because the tradition was that seats could be purchased.”
Ghazanfar arrived in December after his long-standing predecessor stepped down amid controversy about entrance exam results being allegedly fudged to favour the low-scoring children of powerful alumni.
At the time the then governor of Punjab province, the former Glasgow MP Mohammad Sarwar, had caused consternation among many alumni by pushing for a strict merit-only entry system that ignored traditional considerations of “kinship”.
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