Taliban victim ousted as Oxford Union head
Pakistani refugee who survived school massacre accused of arrogance and ‘breakdown in morale’
AFTER surviving a Taliban school shooting and being forced to leave his home in Pakistan, Ahmad Nawaz embarked on what seemed like a runaway story of success.
He became an anti-radicalisation campaigner, achieved a string of top grades and then won a place at Oxford, becoming the first refugee to take the role of president of the Oxford Union in more than 70 years.
But his story of triumph in the face of adversity appears to have come to a premature halt after he was forced to resign this week.
He was voted out by union members after missing meetings on how to improve access to the debating society for “marginalised groups”. Tim Green, the union’s senior access officer, told students in a packed chamber that Mr Nawaz had shown a “degree of arrogance” by not attending the access committee meetings.
Mr Nawaz claimed he had a vast number of meetings to attend, and his duties were made more difficult because of illness.
At the poll, 251 members voted in favour of forcing his resignation, with 164 voting against.
Speaking at the vote, Mr Green said: “Given the fact that just a few hours [after the meetings he missed] he was hosting a three-course dinner, chairing a debate, and speaking to hundreds of people, the committee voted not to accept his excuse.
“He attempted to pass his absence for “disabling or infectious illness”.
“If it was infectious, then the president was knowingly endangering those around him. If it was disabling, then the speed of his recovery was remarkable given that just a few hours later he was able to make a 10-minute speech to a packed house.”
He said Mr Nawaz’s absence “implied that the president has more important things to do than improve access to the union, a debating society which has historically excluded marginalised groups, and still has significant work to do to improve accessibility.”
Mr Green also alleged that Mr Nawaz had tried to “subvert democracy” and during an earlier hearing had tried to get security staff to remove committee members from the building before changing his mind.
Before he resigned Mr Nawaz also faced accusations from union members that his management style was “authoritarian” and led to a “breakdown in morale”.
Mr Nawaz was only the second Pakistani student to be elected to the most senior position in the society’s 200-year history, after Benazir Bhutto, who became the country’s prime minister.
In 2014, Mr Nawaz was a victim in a Taliban school shooting that killed 132 children, including his younger brother. He was shot in the shoulder and left for dead before hiding in a wooden shelter that was then set alight.
Seven Taliban attackers wearing bomb vests launched the attack on an auditorium where children were taking an exam. In one of the worst assaults in the country’s history, the gunmen went from room to room, shooting 141 pupils and teachers in an eight-hour siege.
He spent weeks in hospital before being brought to Birmingham for emergency surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to save his arm. Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace prize winner, was treated at the same hospital after being shot by the Taliban in 2012, and visited Mr Nawaz as he recovered.
Mr Nawaz remained in the city and and in 2017, he began visiting UK schools to teach them about anti-radicalisation.
During one speech at a school in Birmingham, Mr Nawaz said: “I always thought that school was a safe place, not a place where children would be brutally massacred.”
Mr Nawaz, who studies philosophy and theology at Lady Margaret Hall, claimed he had been the target of “continuous political attacks and intimidation” throughout his time as president.
He added: “Towards the end, they’ve been attacking my character at every opportunity available to them, but I will draw strength from these difficulties and I look forward to refocusing my efforts as a campaigner for youth empowerment, education and antiradicalisation.
“It has been a true honour to serve as president and I would like to thank my committee, friends and staff for all that they do for the society.”
Charlie Mackintosh, 20, presidentelect, will replace Mr Nawaz as acting president of the union.
Eton College has apologised “unreservedly” after it was claimed that girls who were visiting from a nearby state school were booed by its students. An anonymous claim made on social media by the mother of one of the girls alleged the students directed racial slurs and misogynistic comments at them during a speech made by Nigel Farage at the school. Mr Farage told the BBC the atmosphere at the event last week was “riotous”. The college told the broadcaster it apologised “unreservedly” for the “totally unacceptable” behaviour and that a number of pupils had been “sanctioned”.