November 8, 2002	Friday	Ramazan 2,1423

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MULTAN, Nov 7: Teachers and students of local public sector schools, colleges and technical educational institutions staged a protest rally on Thursday against the privatization of education.

The rally was organized at Qasim Bagh Fort under the banner of the Joint Action Committee of the organizations of various tiers of the educational system in the province.

Delegations from various districts of former Multan, Bahawalpur and DG Khan divisions also participated the rally to show teachers of all the areas were united to reject the government’s policy to introduce Board of Governors (BOGs) in educational as well as health institutes.

Prominent among the speakers were Syed Tanveer Shah, Chaudhry Nazeer, Rana Wallayat, Qausain Naqvi, Syed Mehdi Tariq, Javed Awan, Nasir Mehmood Bokhari, Sufi Ramzan and Mujahid Zaidi.

They all vowed to carry on the struggle against ‘wholesale’ of education and health sector institutions in the name of autonomy. They feared that the so-called reforms of the present regime would deprive the poor of health and education facilities.

Later, they took out a protest procession which was started from Shah Ruken-i-Alam’s shrine and ended at Ghaus Bahauddin Zakariya’s mausoleum within the Qasim Bagh fort.

The processionists were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against BOGs and in favour of their demands, including the abolition of the contract recruitment system.

The rally was successful as far as the number of participants was concerned, but the organizers conspicuously maintained a low-key attitude throughout the proceedings as against the enthusiasm seen in the previous JAC rallies.

It is learnt the Multan DPO had summoned leaders of component JAC organizations at his office on Wednesday night through SHOs of their respective areas.

The DPO reportedly exerted pressure on JAC leaders that the rally could only be allowed if it would be confined to the Qasim Bagh Fort. They were also directed that teachers of other districts would not be allowed to speak along with the student leaders from any part of the southern Punjab.