FAISALABAD, Feb 11: The Joint Action Committee of students and staff of the National Textile University and the Muttahida Tulaba Mahaz have decided to restart their protest following failure of talks with the varsity management.

All educational institutions in the district would be closed down from Feb 18 if the students' demands were not accepted by then, leaders of the two bodies told newsmen at a press conference on Wednesday.

Saleem Khan, Israr Wazir, Aftab Azeem, Ashraf Sindhu, Khalid Dogar, Mian Yousaf, Waqar Ahmad, Imran Haider, Asad Baba and others said that they had held a meeting with representatives of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, NTU dean and the district police officer on Tuesday.

No headway could be made because the NTU management adamantly said that the demands would be presented at the general meeting of the NTU Board of Governors for appropriate decision, and the students and teachers should end their protest.

They said that the students, teachers and other staff of the NTU had been agitating for the last three months against enhancement in the tuition fees, 100 per cent increase in number of seats, introduction of self-finance scheme and retrenchment of staff.

The JAC and Mahaz leaders threatened that in case their demands were not met by the NTU management by Feb 18, they would stage sit-ins in front of the offices of APTMA members, government officials and the main city intersections.

Hunger strike camp would also be set up at the Clock Tower Intersection while all the schools and colleges of the district would be closed down. They made it clear that in case police or other law-enforcement agencies tried to stop them, they would put up resistance.

They demanded that the government should again take control of the NTU and conduct a comprehensive audit of the accounts, reduce the number of seats and withdraw the self-finance scheme.

The NTU administration had closed down the campus on Dec 11 last year and asked the students to vacate the hostels because of the illegal interference of some elements in the varsity affairs. The students had refused to vacate the hostels and continued their protest.