Fact-check: False claims about Khan's 'removal' from University of Bradford, Oxford chancellorship debunked
Neither University of Bradford removed Khan due to “inappropriate behaviour” nor it wrote to University of Oxford
Updated Friday Aug 30 2024
On August 19, jailed former prime minister Imran Khan applied to become the next chancellor of Britain’s University of Oxford. Following this, posts began circulating online claiming that the University of Bradford had earlier removed Khan as its chancellor due to “inappropriate” behaviour.
The posts further alleged that the University of Bradford had sent a letter to Oxford discouraging it from considering Khan for the chancellorship.
These claims are baseless.
Claim
On August 23, a user on X (formerly Twitter) posted in Urdu: “Breaking news, Bradford University has sent a report about Imran Khan to Oxford University.”
The post claimed that Bradford University had labeled Khan as “incompetent” and described his behavior as “inappropriate”.
It further alleged that Khan had been removed from his chancellor position at Bradford University due to inappropriate behaviour with students and that he had unsuccessfully attempted to regain the post after his removal.
The post has garnered over 62,000 views, nearly 400 reports, and 1,200 likes to date.
Other users shared purported screenshots from reports online about Khan being removed as chancellor of Bradford for inappropriate behaviour.
The identical text was also shared on Facebook here and here.
Fact
Neither had the University of Bradford removed Imran Khan as its chancellor over “inappropriate” behaviour nor has it written to the University of Oxford.
A spokesperson at the University of Bradford clarified to Geo Fact Check that it had not written any letter to Oxford or “make allegations of this manner”.
The spokesperson further added that Khan was not removed from his position as chancellor of the University due to inappropriate behaviour. “He [Khan] finished his term as chancellor at the University of Bradford due to his other commitments and in the manner that all do in his position.”
Imran Khan served as the chancellor of the University of Bradford from 2005-2014.
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