LAHORE, Sept 2: The students of the Punjab Medical College demonstrated outside the Lahore Press Club on Tuesday to protest against their college’s affiliation with the University of Health Sciences.

They also condemned non-implementation of the Supreme Court’s stay order, which had allowed them to appear in the examination conducted by the Punjab University.

Holding placards and banners, the protesters chanted slogans against the Punjab governor and the UHS. They also demanded that the PU should implement the interim stay order of the Supreme Court, which had suspended the proposal that the medical colleges, except the FJMC and the KEMC, affiliated with the PU could take their examination under the UHS, but their degrees would be issued by the PU.

The students said they had already been protesting in Faisalabad, but their district government, which had promised to resolve the issue, had failed to honour its commitment. They said they would continue the protest till the acceptance of their demands.

Initially, the students wanted to stage demonstration in front of the Punjab Assembly, but they had been stopped from doing so by the police. Heavy contingent of police was deployed there to avert any untoward incident.

The students also claimed that the police had stopped two buses of the PMS medics coming from Faisalabad through the motorway.

The Pakistan Medical Association leaders, who were among the protesters, announced that they would set up a token hunger strike camp on Friday, if the PMC’s affiliation was not retained with the PU.

PMA President Dr Yasmin Rashid said the association would stand by the medical college students, and would not allow implementation of any decision by force.

Unlawful registration of the medical students with the UHS must be withdrawn, she said, pledging that the PMA and students of other medical colleges also would join the hunger strike camp.