Fawad Chaudhry defends expelled couple

Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has stepped in to defend the couple, who were expelled from a private university in Lahore for publicly expressing their love.

“Every girl has the right to marry whoever she wishes,” said Fawad in a tweet. “Marrying with one’s own choice choice is the fundamental right given to women in Islam.”

“The university administration should re-think their decision,” asserted the minister, adding “Treating women like property is against Islam.”

Other prominent personalities who criticised the university for its decision included PPP’s Sharmila Faruqi, Shehzad Roy, Yasir Hussain and Shaniera Akram.

The University of Lahore, on Friday, allegedly expelled two students for publicly expressing their love and proposing on university grounds. In a video that went viral on social media and created a stir online, a girl could be seen getting down on one knee and asking her partner to marry him with a bouquet of roses. The proposal ended with the two hugging each other.

According to a notification, dated March 12, the two students were expelled for “[being] involved in gross misconduct and violation of university rules and were called to appear before the special disciplinary committee [but] failed to appear.”