NAWABSHAH, June 11: A court has sent three teachers of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University (SBBU) to jail for two days on judicial remand.

Prof Daleel Khan Jatoi and lecturers Hameed Akhtar Sanjrani and Ilyas Bhutto, all in handcuffs, were produced by police before a judicial magistrate in Nawabshah on Monday.

They were arrested from the university premises on Saturday while leading a demonstration outside the vice-chancellor’s office.

The teachers, along with students, were protesting against termination of the services of registrar Kehar Khoso and lecturer Anwar Mansoor Mangrio.

The VC called the police, which caned the protesters, causing minor injuries to two women teachers and a few students.

The arrested teachers were charged with creating chaos and threatening the university’s security staff that they would not let the administration hold the syndicate meeting.

An FIR has been lodged by the university against Prof Jatoi, lecturers Ilyas Bhutto and Hameed Akhtar Sanjrani.

Meanwhile, the Sindh chapter of the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association has threatened to boycott teaching and examinations if the FIR is not withdrawn and action not taken against police officials involved in Saturday’s action. A meeting of the Sindh chapter of the association at the Quaid-i-Awam University of Engineering, Science and Technology condemned the teachers’ arrest and called upon the governor and the chief minister of Sindh to terminate the services of SBBU vice chancellor Arshad Saleem and reinstate registrar Khoso and lecturer Mangrio. The meeting was presided over by Prof Usman Keerio, provincial chief of the association.

Opinion

In defamation’s name

In defamation’s name

It provides yet more proof that the undergirding logic of public authority in Pakistan is legal and extra-legal coercion rather than legitimised consent.

Editorial

Mercury rising
Updated 27 May, 2024

Mercury rising

Each of the country's leaders is equally responsible for the deep pit Pakistan seems to have fallen into.
Antibiotic overuse
27 May, 2024

Antibiotic overuse

ANTIMICROBIAL resistance is an escalating crisis claiming some 700,000 lives annually in Pakistan. It is the third...
World Cup team
27 May, 2024

World Cup team

PAKISTAN waited until the very end to name their T20 World Cup squad. Even then, there was last-minute drama. Four...
ICJ rebuke
Updated 26 May, 2024

ICJ rebuke

The reason for Israel’s criminal behaviour is that it is protected by its powerful Western friends.
Hot spells
26 May, 2024

Hot spells

WITH Pakistan already dealing with a heatwave that has affected 26 districts since May 21, word from the climate...
Defiant stance
26 May, 2024

Defiant stance

AT a time when the country is in talks with the IMF for a medium-term loan crucial to bolstering the fragile ...