LAHORE, July 25: Punjab Governor Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbool (retired) said on Thursday the government had already received an application from the Presbyterian Church to return the Government Forman Christian College and the Kinnaird College.

Speaking to reporters after attending a seminar held to mark the world population day, the governor said the Supreme Court had already ruled that the nationalized educational institutions should be returned to the original owners.

He said the Church delegations continued to meet him for the denationalization of the two colleges.

The Punjab Education Minister Saeed Akhtar has been saying no application for the denationalization of the FC College or the Kinnaird College has been received so far. The minister had said in his July 12 press conference that the department had only received an application from the Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam for the return of its three colleges and nine schools.

Answering another question, the governor said nationalized institutions would be returned only to the organizations that could prove their ownership rights and ability to run the institutions.

Answering a question about the teachers’s protest, the governor said he had asked the Education Department secretary to meet Joint Action Committee leaders. If needed, he said, he, too, would meet a delegation of teachers’ leaders. Regarding police violence against teachers outside the Government MAO College, the governor said that the policemen involved would be punished.

Answering a question about the permission to hold political activities, the governor said political debate was going on on the PTV World. He said public meetings and rallies would be allowed at some suitable time.