Founded by late Brigadier Gulzar Ahmed Janjua in 1958 as an English-medium school, Government Sir Syed Associate College Katas is located just a few yards away from the ancient Katas Raj on Choa Saidan Shah–Kallar Kahar Road.

Its founder named it Sir Syed Intermediate College Aligarh Jadeed.

At its main entrance, a banner announcing admissions for intermediate classes greets visitors. There is no one to receive newcomers at the main gate as it is without a gatekeeper. When this scribe entered the college on February 19 at 9:14am, a teacher, a College Teaching Intern (CTI) hired merely for an academic session, was sitting in a chair in the courtyard, teaching two students.

The students, twins from nearby Dalailpur village, were relying on a single book. A few minutes later, a third student joined his two classmates, making the total strength of the first-year intermediate class three, as two others seldom attend.

Besides these three students and their teacher, Muhammad Taiyab, the fourth person present at the college was Farooq Masih, the sole employee who acts as sweeper, peon and even clerk.

The clerk’s office remains deserted as the college does not have a single clerk, while the principal’s office presents the same scene as its occupant was also absent, like the two other regular lecturers and one CTI.

The college library presents an even more abysmal picture. Thousands of books placed in iron cupboards are gathering dust and the waste of lizards and rats. “Please be careful while checking any book as there could be a snake hidden behind them,” warned Member of Provincial Assembly on a reserved seat, Mehwish Sultana, whose residence is located just 4km away from the college.

Although smeared with the faeces of lizards and rats and buried behind spider webs, the book collection warrants praise for those who stocked the library with quality books decades ago. There are dozens of books on the Founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and the national poet, Dr Allama Mohammad Iqbal. There is also substantial material on religion, agriculture, mathematics, economics, history and international relations. Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Rudyard Kipling’s Kim, Agatha Christie’s Death Comes as the End, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and Urdu classics such as Fasana-e-Azad by Rattan Nath Dhar Sarshar and Tilism-e-Hoshruba by Mohammad Hussain Jah are among the vast collection of literature decaying on rusting shelves.

“The school was started perhaps in 1958 in front of Katas Raj as a private institution and was later turned into an intermediate college,” Prof Mohammad Riaz, who joined the college in 1970, told Dawn. He added that during a college function, Raja Mohammad Afsar, a notable from nearby Dandot village, announced the construction of a new building after noticing that the existing structure could not accommodate the increasing number of students. The present building was thus constructed a few yards away from the original school building, which was later converted into a hostel for teachers. Residential blocks for Hindu yatrees now stand at that site.

The first principal of the college was Prof Soofi Karam Elahi from Khewra. To honour his services, former vice chief of army staff and former governor of Punjab, Gen Sawar Khan, inaugurated Karam Elahi Hall on May 28, 1984.

Like many other educational institutions, the college suffered a major blow due to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s nationalisation policy when it was taken over by the government.

“Teachers and consecutive principals failed this institution as they never showed the dedication and commitment exhibited by its past faculty members, while the government also failed to appoint the required number of teachers,” said a former professor.

“I am trying my best to attract students to the college, but the problem is that the three high schools that feed this institution have poor enrolment,” Principal Raja Sohail Imran told Dawn.

Talking to Dawn, MPA Malik Tanveer Aslam proposed the closure of the college, saying it has become a liability for the government.

“A degree college for boys was needed in Tehsil Choa Saidan Shah and I got it built. Now it is the responsibility of faculty members and local people to run it,” he maintained.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2026