KARACHI, Jan 26: Leaders of the Sindh Professors and Lecturers' Association have expressed the apprehension that provincial education department was playing in a confidential manner on the issue of denationalization of two colleges in Karachi.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, SPLA leaders said that the Sindh government had been unable to ascertain the real owners of the St Joseph's College for Women and St Patrick's College.

However, they said that the government was working desperately on a plan to hand over the two institutions to a missionary board without meeting the criteria for denationalization of educational institutions that had been set by the government.

SPLA's Karachi chief Prof Syed Riaz Ahsan said that under the approved conditions for denationalization, the education department was required to ask the claimants for the colleges in question to establish a clear title on the institutions.

The department has not been provided with the title document by the private party with which it had been negotiating for the last one year. Flanked by SPLA president Prof Manzoor Hussain Chishti and SPLA's Karachi general secretary Mirza Athar Hussain, Prof Riaz Ahsan also cited some other reasons against the denationalization.

The leaders announced that if the government did not order to stop "illegal proceedings" of denationalization, the SPLA could go for extreme actions after an approval in its general body meeting scheduled to be held at Larkana on Jan 29.

Referring to their meetings with the education minister and other senior officials of the education department, the leaders maintained that they had been given to understand that Sindh was working on the denationalization of the two colleges under the pressure of the federal government.

"They are even not hesitating to mention that denationalization was being carried out in view of the extreme desires of the president and her wife," they alleged and said despite the fact that cases against the denationalization were in courts of law, educational officials had been working with the motives to get something concrete before the next visit of Begum Sahiba to Karachi.

SPLA leaders expressed hope that any law abiding citizen or authority in the country could not support the denationalization of institutions in violation of rules. It was the duty of Sindh education department to let the decision makers and other personalities know the factual position, they remarked.

The teachers' representatives claimed that there was the education department's decision regarding denationalization of colleges had created unrest among teachers and students. The teachers daring to differ from the idea of denationalization of colleges were allegedly being threatened of consequences, which was highly deplorable and against the democratic norms, they stated.

Prof Riaz said that the Sindh government had been paying building rent of St Joseph's and St Patrick's colleges to the Institute of the Daughters of The Cross, St Joseph's Convent and Archdiocese of Karachi, St Patrick's Cathedral, respectively for years.

However, the government all of sudden selected another organization as the owner of the college, the leaders claimed while showing some documentary evidence as well. SPLA leaders said that the education minister had not been able to satisfy the people objecting to the denationalization plan, but wanted to get the buildings transferred to the missionary board without any delay.

They alleged that she was also not ready to hear anything against denationalization for reasons best known to her while the officials were still busy in preparing inventories of available facilities at the colleges. This was against the norms of justice, they said, adding that the government should not act against the aspirations of people.

Prof Riaz Ahsan said that the proceedings of nationalization in 1970s were well documented. He said that the education department and EDO (Education) should try to retrieve the records pertaining to St Joseph's and St Patrick's colleges in addition to demanding the copies of those from the claimants of the colleges as well.