• Lawmakers belonging to Muttahida, PTI and JI lodge noisy protest before staging walkout
• Any capable and qualified bureaucrat could be appointed VC under new law, says Sharjeel
• Opposition leader slams PPP for ‘occupying’ institutes of higher learning

KARACHI: Amid a highly tumultuous atmosphere, the provincial assembly once again passed the controversial Sindh Universities and Institutes Laws (Amendment) as the opposition parties jointly boycotted the proceedings against the new legislation that finally paved the way for current bureaucrats to be appointed vice chancellors of universities across the province.

While the protesting opposition members belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) gathered in front of the speaker’s podium, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Zia Lanjar smoothly presented the bill in a thinly-attended house.

Holding placards, the opposition members, led by Opposition Leader Ali Khurshidi, chanted slogans against the provincial government’s move to appoint bureaucrats as VCs and tore off the copies of the new law before walking out of the house.

Unperturbed by the strong protest and ballyhoo, the law minister smoothly got the bill passed into law with the votes of over 40 treasury members in the absence of opposition members in the house.

The house also re-passed the Sindh Civil Courts (Amendment) Bill.

Both the bills had been returned to the provincial assembly for reconsideration by the governor who had raised objections to the amendments to the laws.

Speaking on a point of order immediately after the passage of the bill, Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon criticised the opposition for the protest and boycott.

He said that the MQM-P and PTI had joined hands and the ruckus in the house was the result of their alliance. “Those who stole each other’s mandate have now joined hands and they should be ashamed of it,” he snarled.

Defending the new law, the senior minister said that none of the members who protested in the house had even bothered to read the bill.

He said that any capable and qualified bureaucrat could be appointed as the vice chancellor of the university as per the criteria set in the new law. “The opposition’s uproar was a childish act,” he added.

Later, talking to reporters at the Media Corner on the premises of the provincial assembly, Opposition Leader Khurshidi rejected the bill and said that the Pakistan Peoples Party wanted to take control of the universities across the province through the new law.

“This bill has not been passed by the Sindh Assembly, but by the PPP which wants to occupy higher educational institutions as well,” he said.

He said that the MQM-P had in principle raised specific objections to appointment of non-PhD current bureaucrats in the meeting of the standing committee. “Now an SP [superintendent of police] can be appointed as VC in a university,” he apprehended.

The opposition leader said that the MQM-P would move the court against the controversial bill as the discussion to opt the legal course were underway, adding that the occupation of universities by the PPP was not acceptable.

He said that corruption was rampant in the educational boards and parents were forced to bribe the officials for getting high percentage in the exams for their children. “The provincial government has already closed the doors of employment for the youth of urban Sindh’” he said and added that PPP had now also taken over control of higher education institutions to run its “system” of corruption in universities.

Earlier, the house also unanimously passed a resolution to pay tributes to Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. The resolution was presented by PPP’s Shazia Singhar.

Question Hour

Furnishing statement and replies of the lawmakers’ written and verbal queries during the Question Hour, Excise and Narcotics Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla said that the provincial government was taking serious and effective measures to make the society drug-free.

The assembly members expressed concern over the increasing use and sale of drugs across the province.

MQM-P’s Rashid Khan said that liquor was being sold to Muslims from registered wine shops. The deputy speaker interrupted him by saying that irrelevant questions should not be asked.

The provincial minister said that other government departments were also working very actively against drugs. He also emphasised the need to create awareness among masses about the drug menace.

Later, the assembly session was prorogued on the order of the governor.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2025