College privatisation sparks protest

The academia and students of the Government Gordon College Rawalpindi Thursday staged another protest demonstration against the proposed handover of the historic educational institute to its former owner, a Christian mission.

Students and teachers formed a joint action committee against the decision and staged a large protest for the second time. The students marched from the college building to the Rawalpindi Press Club, shouting slogans against the privatisation.

They warned if the caretaker government tried to implement the decision, the entire city would be blocked. Holding banners and placards with slogans against the privatisation of the historic institute, the students blocked the roads for two hours.

As a result, traffic was completely blocked at Murree Road, Liaquat Bagh Chowk, Liaquat Road and China Market Road, leading to a traffic gridlock and long queues of vehicles were formed. Three ambulances also got stuck in the traffic jam with sirens blaring. Police remained a silent spectator. Addressing the participants, the student leaders said that the decision would increase the fees of all classes unnecessarily, senior highly qualified professors would be dismissed and retired teachers would be hired on a contract basis.

They feared that the college land worth trillions of rupees would be cut down in small pieces, and commercial plazas and houses would be built there which could not be allowed in any case.

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The police should refrain from interfering in the matter and the protests would continue every day until the decision is withdrawn, the speakers made it clear.

The protesters demanded that the name be changed from Gordon College to Muhammadan College and its privatisation should be annulled. Locals, traders, political workers of all parties, leaders, social workers, and NGOs would be invited to participate in the protests in future, they maintained.

According to the district administration, they had no role to play as the dispute was between the Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) and the students.

Muhammad Osama, the leader of the student-teacher section committee, said the caretaker government had approved the decision of handover in a meeting with the Christian administration. However, Director of Colleges Sher Ahmad Sati said that no decision had been taken yet, saying the protest was unjustified.

The historic Gordon College was established in 1896. Hundreds of senior bureaucrats, politicians, diplomats, and military officers, including former Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, former Indian General Jagjit Singh Aurora, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and former Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid studied at the Gordon College. The college was taken under national control in 1973.

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Protests erupted last year when the Government of Punjab announced the handing over of the historic college and all its properties to the Christian mission and subsequently, the students and teachers filed an appeal before the top court which was later dismissed.

Following the mass protests, the provincial education authorities had to put on hold the proposed privatisation of the 130-year-old government college and the handing over of its building and land to the Christian mission.

Sources said the Punjab government should seriously consider the interests of the poor people while deciding in the face of extreme internal and external pressures. However, considering the legal aspects, Gordon College cannot be abolished.

The college was a missionary institution until 1972 and in the same year when other institutions of the country were nationalised, the Gordon College was also handed over to the Punjab government.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2024.