15 August 2004	Sunday	28 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

KARACHI, Aug 14: As people celebrated the Independence Day with the usual zeal, the Quaid-i-Azam Academy, located opposite Quaid's mausoleum, presented a sorry picture with its walls badly needed to be painted and many books and equipment to be bought.

The academy building was vandalised and a number of important books burnt down when the mob protesting Mufti Shamzai's assassination ransacked it late May. However, no meaningful steps have so far been taken by the government either to protect the building against possible future attacks or to wipe off the effects of the previous one.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, who visited the academy on June 2, had said the provincial government would ensure that the academy remained secure at all times. He had also promised a police picket in front of the academy for the purpose.

He had also promised that the government would compensate the academy for the damage caused by the mob. The governor had even asked the senior officials accompanying him to draw up a list of items that had been destroyed during the attack. However, the governor has so far failed to fulfil his promises. Dawn visited the academy a couple of days ago but there was no police picket there, and not a single policeman could be seen anywhere near the building.

When asked if policemen had ever been posted there, the director of the academy, Prof Dr M Yakub Mughal, said: "Yes, some policemen were posted soon after the governor's visit. But they disappeared within a few days of their posting."

Asked about any government compensation for the damage done to the academy, the director's answer was in the negative.

Dr Mughal said the assassination of Mufti Shamzai was wrong, adding: "But the attack on the academy was wrong as well. As you know, one wrong cannot justify another."

During the attack, he pointed out, some copies of the Holy Quran were also burnt. He said in all more than 250 books had been destroyed during the attack on the academy. "Among other valuable objects that were lost was the computer system which contained our records and a Suzuki van. Many other things of lesser value were also destroyed," he added.