HYDERABAD: An employee of the Sindh University (SU), identified as Hussain Shah, tried to set himself on fire during a protest demonstration on Friday.
He was stopped by the representatives of the Sindh University Employees Association, who rallied from the Model School to the press club, demanding a 50 per cent increase in their salaries, which, they claimed, had been approved in the university’s annual budget.
They also demanded that the university’s vice-chancellor Nazir Mughal as well as other officials be removed from their offices.
Protesters carried banners and shouted slogans against Mughal, claiming that hundreds of acres of the university’s land had been grabbed by encroachers with the help of the university’s management, which had refused to allot the same land to the SU employees.
They added that Mughal was hiring people from the outside despite the fact that the SU syndicate had promised employment to the children of the deceased or retired SU employees.
Protesters threatened to “lock down” the university if their demands were not met.
The SU authorities, however, warned the employees to discontinue their “illegal protests”.
The registrar said that some employees are instigating a protest movement against the university for the acceptance of their illegal demands, adding that the authorities have already resolved the employees’ “genuine” problems.
He advised the employees to stay away from “unhealthy and illegal activities” and to perform their duties efficiently.
The registrar also asked the departmental heads to send him reports concerning those employees who are not attending their offices.
WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP/PPI
Published in The Express Tribune, August 7th, 2010.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ