LARKANA: The week-long agitation by students of Chandka Medical College (CMC) and Bibi Aseefa Dental College (BADC) over alleged trespass on girls’ hostel by a suspect on Aug 13 ended on Monday after administration of the SMBBMU accepted the demands put forward by the All Students Action Committee.
“The SMBBMU (Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University) vice chancellor has constituted an inquiry committee regarding the agitating students’ allegations against the hostel’s provost,” CMC Principal Prof Dr Zameer Soomro told Dawn.
An office order issued by the university’s registrar Prof Dr Safdar Shaikh said that chairman of the university’s hostel management committee would take over the charge of the hostel provost until the inquiry was completed.
In another letter addressed to the chairman of the inquiry committee, the registrar has forwarded complaints against the university’s security officer and deputy provost of the girls’ hostel provost along with students’ request that the inquiries against the provost as well as the deputy provost and security officer should be conducted simultaneously. The inquiry report should be submitted to the office of the registrar as soon as possible, the letter added.
Inquiries against security officer, hostel provost, her deputy instituted over ‘trespass’ on girls’ hostel
The students had started a sustained campaign against the officials on Aug 13 as soon as the trespass was reported by a girl hosteller, who had raised her strong objection over presence of an unknown male in the corridor of Chandka Medical College’s girls’ hostel at around 3:30am.
During the course of the week-long campaign, the students held rallies and demonstrations outside the hostel and local press club. They intensified the campaign when the SMBBMU administration flatly refused to consider their demands.
They finally blocked the CMC entrance, enforced suspension of academic and other activities at the college and crippled the administration by disallowing anyone to enter the college.
The registrar issued show-cause notices to 13 students for holding rallies and paralysing the institutions. An FIR was also lodged at the Rehmatpur police station against a group leading the agitating students. Police were called out to disperse the protesters and reopen the college gate. However, all these measures only aggravated the situation.
The intensifying agitation compelled the SMBBMU and CMC administrations to get together and find out a solution to the issue through negotiations in the presence of the Larkana district administration. An emergency meeting of the university’s academic council was called and leaders of the protesting students were invited to join it but the issue remained unresolved.
A final round of negotiations with the student leaders was held on Monday, when the university and CMC administrations decided to accept their demands.
Eventually, an inquiry committee headed by Prof Dr Gulzar Ahmed Shaikh (Dean, faculty of surgery and allied sciences) was constituted. Prof Dr Bashir Ahmed Shaikh (Dean, faculty of medicines and allied sciences), Prof Dr Shanti Lal (chairperson of the department of pediatrics), Dr Dilli Jan Mugheri (Assistant Professor of the department of pediatrics) and Dr Mohammed Pariyal Shahani (director of students’ affairs) are the other members of the committee. Dr Shahani would also act as convener of the committee, the office order issued by the registrar said.
The committee would look into protesting students’ allegations and submit its report within 10 days, the letter read.
At the two rounds of talks held on Saturday (August 17) between the two sides, the district administration was represented by Deputy Commissioner Sharjeel Noor Channa and SSP Dr Mir Rohail Khan Khoso.
When asked what would be the fate of the show-cause notices and FIRs against student leaders, a source in the CMC said that law would take its course but the students, if they deem it fit, could approach the committee in this regard.
Meanwhile, the protest camp pitched at the main gate of the Chandka Medical College last Tuesday was dismantled on Monday to declare an end to the students’ campaign in the wake of successful negotiations.
CMC Principal Prof Dr Zameer Soomro said that normal classes on the campus would resume on Wednesday (Aug 21).
Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2024