May 13, 2008	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 7, 1429

FAISALABAD, May 12: Students of the National Textile University (NTU) forcibly entered the vice-chancellor’s office on Monday and asked him to have a dialogue with them for solution to their problems.

This was the first aggressive protest by the NTU students who locked main gates before commencing protest.

They have been demanding university’s accreditation with the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), resignation of the vice-chancellor and disbandment of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association’s organising body.

Sources said the NTU students gathered at the campus and chanted slogans against the administration and VC Masood Biabani. They entered the VC’s office and demanded acceptance of their demands.

The administration called the police, which could not approach the VC office because of closure of gates.

Sensing the situation, sources said, the VC asked the students to make arrangements for a joint discussion in which he would apprise them about the progress of the accreditation issue. Upon this, the students dispersed and held detailed talks with the VC. Though the protest campaign launched by senior students of the NTU entered the second month, this was the first address by the VC at the main auditorium. All departments heads and staff members were present.

During the course of the discussion, sources said, the VC tried to convince the students that the university had been making sincere efforts for accreditation.

The VC’s remarks infuriated the students when he said that it would take three to four years to acquire certification from the PEC and they started chanting slogans against him. They also demanded his resignation.

Uproar by scores of students forced the NTU head to stop his speech and he left the meeting without responding to any query.

The protesters said they would not budge from their position until their legitimate demands were met. Students Action Committee representative Jawad Qazi said talks between both parties -- students and administration -- remained inconclusive.

“Our future is at stake because of the non-affiliation of the university with the PEC. We can’t be considered as engineers without this accreditation,” he said.