School girls in rally: ‘Who are you to object?’
Court dismisses petition objecting to taking students to Faisalabad rally.
LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court dismissed on Friday a petition seeking action against the head mistress of a public school and some other government officers for taking students to Faisalabad to participate in the PML-N rally.
Justice Umar Ata Bandial dismissed the petition – filed by Muhammad Qasim Cheema, a resident of Faisalabad – saying that Cheema had no locus standi to file the petition since he was not an aggrieved party.
The petitioner had submitted that EDO Pevaiz Akhtar had asked Sajid Hussain, secondary education DEO Lahore; Abdul Majid, the assistant education officer; and Mrs Munawwar Tabassum, the principal of Government Model Girls High School, Model Town, Lahore, to take a bus full of girl students to the PML-N rally in Faisalabad.
Transport and other expenses were arranged by the Lahore DCO and Akhtar, he claimed.
The petitioner said that driving the students like a herd of goats and forcing them to take part in a rally from early morning till late at night not only “polluted” the girls’ minds but also caused their parents anxiety. The petitioner said that such acts could lead to an increase in the dropout rate of girls from public schools. He had prayed that Akhtar be suspended and action taken against other officers who were involved.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2011.
The Lahore High Court dismissed on Friday a petition seeking action against the head mistress of a public school and some other government officers for taking students to Faisalabad to participate in the PML-N rally.
Justice Umar Ata Bandial dismissed the petition – filed by Muhammad Qasim Cheema, a resident of Faisalabad – saying that Cheema had no locus standi to file the petition since he was not an aggrieved party.
The petitioner had submitted that EDO Pevaiz Akhtar had asked Sajid Hussain, secondary education DEO Lahore; Abdul Majid, the assistant education officer; and Mrs Munawwar Tabassum, the principal of Government Model Girls High School, Model Town, Lahore, to take a bus full of girl students to the PML-N rally in Faisalabad.
Transport and other expenses were arranged by the Lahore DCO and Akhtar, he claimed.
The petitioner said that driving the students like a herd of goats and forcing them to take part in a rally from early morning till late at night not only “polluted” the girls’ minds but also caused their parents anxiety. The petitioner said that such acts could lead to an increase in the dropout rate of girls from public schools. He had prayed that Akhtar be suspended and action taken against other officers who were involved.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2011.