HYDERABAD, March 24 The Sindh University Teachers Association (SUTA) has condemned the holding of a jirga at the campus and said that in the presence of university senate, syndicate, academic council and discipline committee, the holding of a jirga speaks volumes about the mismanagement and helplessness of the university administration.

SUTA secretary Professor Badar Soomro said in a statement that seven days ago, the association had said that the university administration had virtually ceased to exist and the holding of jirga was a proof of this fact.

He said that although the university administration spent a huge amount on police and Rangers to maintain law and order at the campus, the university had reached at the verge of destruction.

Mr Soomro said that the Sindh High Court had banned jirga but the biggest educational institution of Sindh had succumbed to jirga system, which was defeat of intellect.

He said that the main reason of failure of university administration was retired officials working on different posts who were incapable of taking any decision. He said that the in-service professors and officers should be given their due rights.

He appealed to the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, to take notice of the prevailing situation to rid the educational institutes of retired officials and order a judicial inquiry into the jirga.

UNIVERSITY VERSION The university authorities have denied the holding of any jirga as alleged by the SUTA.The university administration said in a statement that a clash had taken place between students and some security guards of the university on Feb 27, which led to protests, badly affecting educational environment at the campus.

The statement said that the employees lodged an FIR with the Jamshoro police station with the help of university administration. The vice- chancellor and registrar held several meetings with the employees and assured them of justice but they went ahead with protest demonstrations, the statement said.

It said that talks were held between the two parties in the presence of MPA Dr Sikandar Shoro but some university employees refused to participate in the talks.

The university administration convened three meetings of discipline committee, issued notices and recorded statements of the employees and the students, the statement said.

It said that on March 14, on the occasion of senate meeting, Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq, who is also the pro-vice chancellor of the university, met with university employees, who had staged a sit-in outside the administration building, and urged them to hold talks to resolve the issue.

It said that in the light of the minister's advice, the parents of the students approached the employees and their parents to solve the problem through talks.

The statement clarified that on March 22, the employees and their parents and the students and their parents held talks and settled the dispute.