Fazle Haq Khayrabadi: An Extraordinary Personality

This is an account of the life and works of Fazle Haq Khayrabadi, a great but forgotten Indian Muslim religious scholar and thinker of the 19th century is presented. Coming from a family of great distinction, Fazle Haq Khayrabadi was an author, poet and philosopher who expressed himself in Arabic, Persian and Urdu. Especially relevant is the dedication and fervor with which Khayrabadi participated in all stages of the First Indian War of Independence of 1857 [also termed the Great Mutiny], for which he was exiled to the Andaman Islands by the British rulers of India, where he died in 1862. The remarkable personality of Fazle Haq Khayrabadi [17871862] has been forgotten by an ungrateful nation that does not honour its heroes but instead buries them under the debris of history. A great scholar, familiar with the diverse disciplines in the Islamic sciences, and the Imam of the Khayrabadi school of logic and philosophy, he, also a son the great Fazle Imam Khayrabadi, distinguished himself early for his intellectual prowess and strength of genius. Amazingly, such a scholar, devoted to academics, was also a fighter and participant in the War of Independence of 1857, and a member of the revolutionary council that directed its strategy. For this, he suffered imprisonment at the hands of the vengeful British, who sentenced him to hard labour in the distant Andaman Islands – where he died ‘across the black water’.

Exploring the Perceptions and Practices of College Principals in Managing Government Degree Colleges in Sindh, Pakistan

This research study was conducted in order to explore the perceptions and practices of principals in managing government degree colleges in the context of Sindh, Pakistan. This study focused on exploring the perceptions and practices of the college principals and investigated the challenges they faced in managing their institutions as educational leaders. In their study, Spillane, Halverson, and Diamond (2001) state that "knowing what leaders do is one thing, but without a rich understanding of how and why they do it, our understanding of leadership is incomplete" (p.32). Within the qualitative study approach, the data for this research study was gathered through semi-structured interviews, focused group discussions and observations, so as to ensure the validity of the data. Furthermore, a thematic analysis approach was used to understand the data. Since this study is an effort to explore college principals' perceptions and practices in their settings; therefore, it is of inherent importance. This research endevours a status of uniqueness in its respective field because this subject has not been explored before in the context of college principal ship. The findings of the study has revealed that appointment and posting of principals play an important role in managing institutions. However, this feat is always a great challenge for them because of lack of professional development and unawareness about their leadership role. Most of them have a rich teaching background but minimum management and leadership exposure. The study identified that the principals perceived their leadership role as that of a care giver. They have the instinct to execute their role with responsibility; nevertheless, there are some challenges that act as hurdles in their way. Political influences seem to play an important role in managing these institutions. The study invites researchers to explore more about the different aspects of governance of degree colleges, as this dimension has been under researched so far.