HYDERABAD, May 16: School students of Hussainabad and Qasimabad held a protest demonstration and staged a sit-in outside the local press club on Sunday.

The demonstrators including girls, were protesting against the delay in the distribution of textbooks and the Ministry of Religious Affairs scholarships.

Speaking on the occasion, the student leaders said that although the new academic year had begun, textbooks were neither distributed among students nor available in the market.

They said that the government allocated sizable funds for award of the scholarships but most of the funds lapsed every year in Sindh as a few student were awarded the scholarship.

Rs15 million scholarship amount was earmarked for the Hyderabad district this year, they claimed and added that the amount had not yet been distributed and as usual would be returned. They criticized the indifferent attitude of the education department as well as the provincial and district governments in this regard.

PROTEST: On the call of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal vice- president Syed Sajid Ali Naqvi, a protest day was observed here on Sunday. A condolence meeting was held at the Shah Najaf imambargah for those who died in the bombing of the holy shrines in Najaf and also those who were killed in the Lahore, Karachi and Hyderi Mosque massacres.