Privatisation of Gordon College put on hold

Faculty and students call off month-long protest

RAWALPINDI:

Punjab education authorities have put on hold the proposed privatisation of 139-year-old government postgraduate Gordon College and the handing over of its building and land to the Christian mission.

Earlier, the Punjab government announced the handing over of the college and all its properties to the Christian mission on December 12.

The news about the Punjab government's decision to return the city’s prestigious Gordon College to the Christian mission dawned on the faculty staff and the students as a bombshell. Uneasiness gripped the institution which was taken over by the government in 1972 under former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s nationalisation policy.

Teachers and students alike resented the move to privatise the college and hand over the institution to the Christian missionary after the Lahore High Court adjudicated the case in favour of the Christian mission. Since then, the teachers and the students had been on the roads protesting against the proposed privatisation of the college.

Sources said that the college action committee will now hold a meeting with the Punjab education secretary, the commissioner Rawalpindi and the director of colleges on Monday to further discuss the matter.

The sources said that the directorate of colleges and Gordon College faculty and students will now jointly file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the LHC verdict for handing over of the college to the Christian mission.

The sources said that the matter has also been dropped from the agenda of the Punjab cabinet meeting.

In the meanwhile, the expected visit of the missionary team to the Gordon College has also been cancelled.

Director of Colleges Sher Ahmed Satti told the protesting students at Liaquat Bagh Chowk that in fact, they have lost the case in the high court, but now they will fight the case together in the Supreme Court.

“We have to solve this matter according to the constitution and law. We will take up the case in the Supreme Court. There will be education only if we have educational institutions at our disposal. We also love Gorden College as much as the students. I am also a student of Gorden College. We are not happy that our children take to the streets every day and this matter will be resolved amicably,” Ahmed Satti said.

Professors and Students’ Action Committee patron Prof Jamshed and student leader Osama said that “we agree with the announcement of the director colleges that the college will no longer be handed over to the missionary team on Monday.”

Earlier, Director Colleges Sher Ahmed Satti, Additional Deputy Commissioner Nazarat Hussain Shah, Assistant Commissioner Shagufta Jabeen and the action committee members held negotiations at the directorate of colleges.

The action committee presented four points, including the demand to remove Gordon College Acting Principal Muhammad Idris whom they accused of favouring the handing over the college to the missionary team.

The action committee also demanded to make the students direct party in the Supreme Court during the appeal.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2022.