Faculty protests inclusion of QAU land in Bhara Kahu bypass

The administration of Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad (QAU) has sprung into action after Capital Development Authority (CDA) allegedly included 600 kanals of the varsity’s land in the Bhara Kahu by-pass project without obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC).

In a protest held at the project site by faculty members, they demanded to stop the project and provision of alternative land to the university. The university registrar also wrote a letter to the CDA chairman for getting the varsity’s land released from the clutches of the encroachment mafia and demarcation of its land.

The QAU faculty members and Academic Staff Association (ASA) have become active in their campaign on social media against the acquisition of the varsity’s land by the CDA without getting approval from its syndicate. The ASA and faculty members are also making social media trends regarding the Bhara Kahu bypass project.

Meanwhile, CDA Chairman Captain (retd) Muhammad Usman Younis said that the CDA Board approved the acquisition of the university’s land for the project in the last meeting.

“QAU Vice Chancellor Professor Muhammad Ali Shah is also a member of the CDA Board. He has been informed that the CDA is liable to give alternate land to the university against the land used in this project,” he claimed.

On the other hand, QAU Vice Chancellor Prof Shah says that there will be a meeting with the CDA members on Monday [tomorrow] in which a discussion will be held on the alternative land. “CDA is preparing the document and it will be given to us on Monday,” he said.

Earlier, senior faculty members of the varsity’s Department of International Relations and Politics held a meeting regarding the matter, in which it was said that the university land cannot be handed over to anyone without the approval of the syndicate. Expressing concerns, the faculty also decided to launch a campaign to get the 600 kanals of land back from the CDA or stop the development project.

In his letter to the CDA chairman, QAU Registrar Dr Raja Qaiser Ahmed expressed grave reservations about the use of the university’s land for the construction of the bypass. The registrar also demanded demarcation of the varsity’s land, asking that the construction work on the bypass be halted until alternative land is allotted.

According to university sources, it is surprising that the vice chancellor himself is a member of the CDA Board. But it is not yet clear whether
the vice chancellor was also present in the meeting of the CDA Board when it allegedly approved the acquisition of the university’s land as part of the project. “If he was there, why did he not resist? He alone cannot hand over the university’s land to anyone like this. No one knows what the conditions were and whether the vice chancellor resisted or not,” the sources said.

A senior faculty member said that since Dr Muhammad Ali’s term as VC is about to end, such matters will be brought to the fore. The faculty
members alleged that Shah did not convene a single meeting of the ASA in four years.

“Instead of making permanent appointments to the most important posts, he only appointed favourite faculty members on such positions,” they lamented.

Meanwhile, the faculty members held a protest at the project site on Saturday. On this occasion, ASA President Dr Aamir said that Bhara Kahu bypass project is another attack on the QAU by the CDA. “The QAU is not at all on board in this project. The CDA did not honour its agreements with the QAU in the past as well. Now it has started the new project. It does not have the permission of the QAU administration and the syndicate,” he said and appealed to the government to stop the project.

“QAU owns 1700 acres of land, out of which a few acres have been allotted to the university. The CDA administration has taken away 600 kanals of the university’s land without its permission and made it a part of the development project,” he added