HYDERABAD, Oct 16: Employees of the Sindh, Mehran and Liaquat universities staged protest demonstrations on Thursday to express solidarity with the employees of the Sindh Agriculture University and called for the removal of the SAU vice-chancellor, Dr Basheer Ahmed Shaikh.

Hundreds of SAU employees also staged a sit-in in front of the vice-chancellor’s secretariat. As the vice-chancellor came to his office, they raised slogans against him.

Addressing the rally, leaders of the employees, Hussain Bux Veesar, Karam Ali Punhoon, Syed Abdul Majeed Shah Rashidi and others said that it was an irony that Sindh governor’s secretary Aftab Lodhi was trying to protect a corrupt vice-chancellor. They urged Aftab Lodhi not to become a party.

They said that they had confidence in an inquiry committee appointed to look into the university affairs but added that as long as the vice- chancellor and registrar remained on their posts, an impartial inquiry was impossible.

A delegation of the SAU Teachers’ Association met the employees’ leaders and expressed their solidarity with them.

Students of the university also staged a protest demonstration against the vice-chancellor and demanded his removal.

SPLA: The Sindh Professors and Lecturers’ Association has condemned resumption of duties by Dr Shaikh as the SAU vice-chancellor and said that a conspiracy was being hatched to destroy the educational institutions of Sindh.

In a joint statement issued here, the central leaders of the SPLA, Prof Liaquat Aziz, Prof Siddique Unnar, Prof Yaqoob Chandio, Prof Taj Joyo and others said that it was incomprehensible that despite strong opposition from the teachers and the employees “a retired and corrupt vice-chancellor” had been allowed to resume his duties.

They said that by appointing retired officers on a contractual basis in the universities and educational boards, educational institutions of Sindh were being destroyed.They warned that SPLA would not act as a silent spectator on handing over old colleges and schools of Karachi to a trust.

They appealed to the president, prime minister, Sindh governor and chief minister not to allow auction of the educational institutions at the instance of political groups and sycophants.

They demanded that only honest, competent and in-service educationists should be appointed as heads of educational institutions.