KARACHI, July 1: The protesting students of Sindh Medical College, who completed 15 days of their hunger strike on Tuesday, are still looking towards government for relief.
About 50 male and female students have been on hunger strike since June 16 outside the Karachi Press Club. They have been demanding regularization of their admissions, holding of exams and severe action against the employees of the provincial health department, SMC staff and Karachi University employees, who allegedly dragged them in an organized way to get admissions to the college.
The protesting students’ representative said on Tuesday that they were now pinning hopes on legislators belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, who had recently negotiated with the students. The Muttahida leaders along with the representatives of the protesting students were scheduled to meet the chief minister at his office on Wednesday (today), they informed.
Different political figures and human right activists have already expressed their sympathy with the aggrieved students and felt that grievances of the students should be addressed on humanitarian ground.
During the two weeks of hunger strike, about 10 male and female students fainted due to the hot and humid summer days at the camp outside KPC. About six students were admitted to hospitals during their protest.
The students, while vowing to continue their strike till their demands are met, said that government was testing the nerves of students, but they would not succumb to any pressure as they believed that they were fair and deserved due consideration.
About seven months back, as many as 105 students were detected, who allegedly took “out of way” admissions to the SMC. Hundred thousands of rupees were accepted from students on ground of “self-finance admissions,” claimed government as well as students. After three to five years of education at the college, the students were ousted.
The protesters criticized the anti-student campaign started by some group. They said that the group was busy in misrepresenting the facts before the provincial high ups just to get hold over the key posts in the medical education setup.
They recalled that the chief minister, at the meeting with them on May 26, had admitted that many of the affected SMC students deserved sympathies. They said that he had pledged to order for elimination of their grievances in phases.
“We waited for about three weeks, but failed to see any official initiative in this regard,” the representative of the protesting students said. He said that the students were compelled to go on strike, as the government did not take any action on their issue. “Even after a lot of physical and mental torture being faced by the students and their families, if the government is still unwilling to solve our problems, we can live a life of criminals,” he remarked.
Following the court orders, the students were asked to appear before a special committee of the government, which they did, he claimed. “We have shown our relevant educational documents in original to the committee, but the authorities are still indecisive despite the lapse of two months,” he said.
The students’ representative made it clear that they did not support those students, who were believed to possess fake educational documents.
However, the students, who were issued university enrolment cards, college identity cards, admit cards and allowed to appear in exams from time to time, did not deserve the treatment that was being meted out to them, he mentioned.
