Anti-state slogans: teachers protest nomination of faculty members in FIR

Flimsy charges levelled against teachers who had nothing to do with any political or nationalist group, SUTA leader

HYDERABAD:

The Sindh University Teachers Association (SUTA) boycotted the conduct of exams on Monday and also took out a protest rally to denounce the nomination of two faculty members in an FIR at Jamshoro police station. The teachers later staged a token sit-in on a part of the Indus Highway outside Sindhology Department to register their protest.

The SUTA's leader Dr Rafique Ahmed Lashari while addressing the protesters condemned that Dr Muhammad Younus Laghari and Passand Ali Khoso have been unjustifiably booked in an FIR for being a part of some anti-state activity during the December 3 culture day celebrations.

In the FIR, lodged on the state's complaint on December 14, the police accused Director Students Affairs Laghari and Provost Boys Hostel Khoso for encouraging a group of students to carry the flags and banners of a banned nationalist outfit during the celebration in the campus.

As many as 63 students including Hasnain Rashid Junejo, Saqlain Sindhi, Ali Raza Brohi, Abdul Jabbar Bozdar and others have been booked in the case.

The SUTA's leader said flimsy charges have been levelled against the teachers who had nothing to do with any political or nationalist group.

Dr Lashari warned that unless the names of the two teachers are not removed from the FIR, the faculty will continue to boycott the academic activities besides organizing protests on a daily basis. The SUTA announced that a protest will take place outside the SSP office on December 19.

The teachers, who participated in Monday's protest in hundreds of numbers, were asked to regroup at the varsity's zero point in the morning of December 19.

The association also asked the SU Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Siddique Kalhoro to approach the chancellor and the police authorities to ensure that the names of the teachers are expunged from the case. Prof Amar Sindhu, Prof Arfana Mallah, Dr Tania Mushtaq, Shahmurad Chandio and Qasim Nizamani also expressed their views.

Meanwhile, the SU announced that the semester exams being conducted in the morning and evening sessions on December 18 and 19 have been postponed due to the teachers’ protest.

The new date of the exam will be announced later.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2023.