SU protest: Boycott will continue until VC resigns, say teachers

HYDERABAD:

The agreement at Governor House on January 31, to end the teaching boycott at Sindh University (SU), came to an end after three days.

The teachers announced on Friday that all academic activities will be suspended from February 6 and a five-hour token hunger strike will be observed until their demand for the resignation of SU’s vice chancellor, Nazir A Mughal, is accepted. He is currently on sick leave while an investigation is conducted.

The SU teachers had resumed classes after an interval of 29 days, following the killing of Prof. Bashir Chanur on January 2 on campus, the fourth such violent act committed on the premises.

Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad had delegated a committee, chaired by Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Vice Chancellor Dr Noshad Shaikh, to resolve the deadlock through negotiations with the Sindh University Teachers Association (SUTA). Following a meeting with the association, the committee announced that the SU vice chancellor will go on medical leave for four days.

According to SUTA’s Arfana Mallah, they had reached a tacit agreement to make the leave a way for Mughal to step down. “The retreat on this agreement began the moment the minutes of the meeting were not shared with us, as stated in the agreement,” said Mallah. “Pir Mazhar’s support for the VC was the final deal breaker.”

The education minister sent a letter on Thursday to Governor House, objecting to the committee’s decision to send Mughal on leave, saying that it didn’t have the authority to do so.

In accordance with the 18th constitutional amendment, the minister has the right to assert his authority in matters of higher education.

The association’s president, Azhar Shah, said that the teachers will not settle for anything less than the removal of the vice chancellor.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2012.