RAWALPINDI, Jan 19: The protesting students at Government Boys Gordon College locked their principal in his office for about four hours to stop him from attending the first meeting of the controversial board of governors (BoG) of the institution on Wednesday.

However, later in the day, Principal Abdul Qayyum Bhatti managed to escape from the backdoor of the room to reach the office of Commissioner Rawalpindi Zahid Saeed where the meeting was held; teachers and official sources in the college told this reporter.

“The college administration had declared Wednesday as a holiday but a good number of students turned up and gathered outside the main gate early in the morning,” said an assistant professor in the college on condition of anonymity.

As the administration did not allow even teachers to enter the building, the students forced their way in and assembled outside the office of the principal and locked it from outside after learning that the BoG meeting was to be held in the college. They also chanted slogans against the establishment of the BoGs, the teacher said.

The officials of the college directorate contacted the teachers asking them to persuade the students to release the principal but their efforts could not bear fruit till 1pm as the teaching staff started leaving the building, the professor said.

However, when the principal reached the commissioner office, the district administration arranged the board meeting there.

The protesting students, on the other hand, remained outside the college and blocked the busy Liaquat Road linking Raja Bazaar with Murree Road for hours by burning tyres. They were chanting slogans against what they called privatisation of their college.

“The board met under the chair of the commissioner and 12 of its total 16 members participated in the meeting. The meeting passed four resolutions regarding the administrative affairs of the college,” said an official source.

According to the resolutions, property of the college will not be sold; there will be no increase in the annual fees for the four-year bachelor's students, and the teaching and non-teaching staff of the college would not be disturbed. The fourth resolution was about preparing the budget of the college.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association Rawalpindi chapter in a press release criticised the meeting saying the chief justice of Lahore High Court had stopped the higher education department from proceeding with the project of the BoGs in the 26 selected colleges and also directed the students and teachers not to protest against the project.

Mohammad Ilyas Qureshi, the president of PPLA's Rawalpindi chapter, said LHC was to take up their case on January 24 but the provincial government started implementing the project without waiting for the final outcome of the case.

“The government had promised that under the new boards, fee structure would not be revised or enhanced but the annual fee for the bachelor's programmes at Gordon College has been increased from Rs3,500 to Rs9,000,” he claimed.

When contacted, Director Colleges Dr Mohammad Ashraf said the LHC had not stopped the education department from proceeding with the project. He said the apprehensions of students and teachers would be addressed by the government.

He said the meeting of the BoG for Government Postgraduate Girls College, Satellite Town, was held on January 15 on the premises of the college peacefully.

The official said the court had stopped the teachers and students from protesting against the project and they should wait for the decision of the court.