WE, former students of the Dayaram Jethomal (DJ) Science College, request the chief minister to preserve the sanctity of institutions specifically built for students. Mitharam Hostel, Sewakunj Hostel and Jinnah Courts Hostel were homes away from the home for students of the ’50s, ’60s and early ’70s; these were the golden era of student life.

DJ Science College, NED Engineering College and Government Commerce College shared common premises. SM Arts College and SM Law College were our next-door neighbbours.

Here there was coeducation; young women and men attended theory and practical classes together This favourably influenced their behaviour patterns. Several outstanding students were from that period.

Each college officially sponsored student unions, which organised debates, photographic exhibitions, poetry recitals, picnics and variety shows, which were often attended by our parents, who were treated with cordiality, respect. and dignity.

The principals and teaching staff participated actively in these events. The atmosphere throughout was cordial and friendly. We were not Sindhi, Baloch, Mohajir, Punjabi, Gujrati or Pakhtun, nor were we Hindu, Christian, Ahmadis, Parsi or Muslim — we were just students.

The Mitharam Hostel occupies a very significant place in the history of Pakistan’s student life. From 1951 to 1954, Room No 29 of the hostel served as the undeclared office of the Democratic Students Federation. The DSF struggled for a solution to students’ problems in Karachi.

The narration of the DSF’s activities requires a full-page article because the DSF has acquired a national status. Just opposite Mitharam Hostel is DJ Science College, which has SM Arts and Law Colleges next door. Converting Mitharam Hostel into a sub-jail will have a harmful effect on the students of these colleges.

The chief minister should give the hostel to the students to whom it belongs.

Mazhar Saeed

Karachi

(2)

I AM shocked to learn from your issue of April 20 that the Sindh government has decided to convert Mitharam Hostel, which was lying neglected and unrepaired, into a sub-jail.

Since the Jinnah Courts Hostel was handed to the Rangers, the student community has been suffering greatly. God knows how long the Rangers will be occupying this beautiful hostel erected by the Sindh Madressah Board and inaugurated by the Quaid around 1933 for the benefit of students of the interior of Sindh.

With the increase in the number of students requiring residential accommodation, we need at least four or five more Jinnah Courts in Karachi, but the government, instead of doing this, is taking away yet another student hostel, the Sevakunj Hostel.

It is lying derelict and abandoned for lack of repairs and maintenance and if this trend of usurping hostels persists, there is little doubt that it will also be taken over by the Sindh government.

I would urge that both Mitharam Hostel and Sevakunj Hostel be restored to their pristine glory for the benefit of the student community, and Jinnah Courts too should be vacated and handed over to the Sindh Madressah Board.

The Chief Minister’s House is a spacious place and I would suggest that half of its area be allocated for the construction of a sub-jail whose establishment is so dear to the chief minister.

Salahuddin Mirza

Karachi

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2015

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