KARACHI, Nov 19: On the call of the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA), students and teachers of the D.J. Science College held a protest demonstration on the campus on Monday against the Sindh government’s plan to build “Education Complex” in its vicinity without the consent of the principal and administration of the college.
The protesters, led by Prof Syed Riaz Ahsan, President of the SPLA’s Karachi chapter, raised slogans against the government and called for scrapping the plan.
Prof Riaz Ahsan accused former Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim and Secretary Education Sabhago Khan Jatoi of being involved in the plan to slash the college’s playground, and vowed to foil the land-grabbing through a united struggle of teachers and students.
The principal said he received a call from the provincial government’s works and services department asking him to keep silent on the issue.
A student leader Raqib Siddiqui also condemned the “conspiracy” against the college students’ extra-curricular activities. Teachers, including Rizwan Hyder, Asif Zaidi and Shahzad Ahmed, also condemned the move. —PPI
Our staff reporter adds: Some people on Friday brought a heavy duty earthmoving and excavation equipment into the college playground, located next to the Government Commerce College, Dr Ziauddin Ahmad Road, and started digging and other work.
The staff posted at the playground reported the matter to the college administration which immediately sent its senior staffers to look into the matter.
Principal Chughtai also approached the higher authorities, including the chief secretary, education secretary and sports secretary to apprise them of the situation.
A rough estimate would put the market value of the land being utilized for the complex at several billion rupees.
In his letter to the higher authorities, the principal said that the Education Works Department seemed to have planned construction of buildings within the D.J. sports ground and it was an irony that the college had never been consulted about the plan.
He urged the authorities to take immediate steps to stop all activities regarding the construction which, he maintained, was being done at the cost of students’ sports facilities.
Meanwhile, a general body meeting of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the college adopted a unanimous resolution at an emergency meeting to condemn the “trespassing and highhandedness” on the part of unknown persons who started digging and other works without the consent of the college staff.
The strongly-worded resolution slammed the grabbing of the legal and lawful property of the prestigious college. “Such activities should be stopped forthwith and a status quo be maintained in the matter, it added.