HYDERABAD, Dec 19: The Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association has announced a phase-wise protest programme throughout the province for acceptance of its 13-point charter of demands.

It said a black day would be observed in colleges on Dec 20.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Monday, SPLA secretary Prof Liaquat Aziz and other office-bearers, including Prof Agha Khalid Pathan, Prof Syed Ghazanfar Shah, Prof Ayub Mari and Prof Shafqat Jokhio, said if transfer orders of principals of Thatta and Khairpur Nathan Shah colleges, teachers and association office-bearers were not cancelled by Dec 25, college teachers and principals would boycott the coming examinations of the University of Sindh.

Prof Aziz said the decisions had been taken at a meeting of the newly-elected Sindh council of the association held at the Government Sachal Arts and Commerce College, Hyderabad, on Dec 17.

He said protest rallies would be staged in Hyderabad, Sukkur and Karachi on Jan 17, 24 and 30 respectively and teachers would also observe hunger strikes in the three cities from Jan 17.

He alleged that Thatta Government College principal Dost Mohammad Qureshi and lecturer Hafiz Ubedullah Rajar had been transferred at the behest of the district nazim. He said the only fault of Mr Qureshi and Mr Rajar was that they had reported against illegal examination practices of four Shirazi family students during the University of Sindh examinations of 2004. He said the same students were again appearing in the examinations from the Thatta college, scheduled to start from Dec 26.

Prof Aziz claimed that some office-bearers of the association, including Taj Joyo, Yaqoob Chandio, Ishaque Jamali, Anwar Mansoor Mangrio and Abdul Aziz Solangi, and Sindh University senate member Zulfiqar Panhwar had also been asked to report to the executive officer, higher education, Karachi.