Undecided fate: DG Khan students protest closure of BZU campus

More than 600 students will be affected by the decision to convert the campus to Ghazi University.

DERA GHAZI KHAN/ MULTAN:

Nearly 400 students from Dera Ghazi Khan held a demonstration in Multan protesting the closure of Bahauddin Zakariya University’s DG Khan Campus.

The students gathered at the campus at around 11 am on Monday and chanted slogans against the university administration.

Ali Rasheed, one of the protesters, told The Express Tribune that they had completed four semesters at the BZU campus in Dera Ghazi Khan and wanted a degree issued by the same university.

He said more than 600 students had been affected by the decision to convert the BZU Campus into Ghazi University.



Momina Qureshi, another protester, said the BZU Dera Ghazi Khan campus had been converted to Ghazi University on July 1.

“We had enrolled for studies at BZU. They later told us that we would be getting our degrees from Ghazi University,” she said.

She said many students had complained to various authorities over the last four months. She said the administration of the BZU had not responded to their complaints.

Ali Raza, another protester, told newsmen that students had filed a petition against the BZU’s decision before the Multan bench of Lahore High Court.

Raza said the court had ordered the university to start their classes on December 5.

He said the BZU administration had ignored the orders.

Talking to The Express Tribune, BZU Registrar Malik Munir Hussain said the university had filed an intra-court appeal against the LHC order.

He said the problem would be resolved in terms of the court’s final orders.

He said it would take at least three months to open a campus at Dera Ghazi Khan. “We are offering the DG Khan students an opportunity to join the programme at the Multan campus,” he said.

He said students who were interested in joining BZU in Multan should submit their applications. He said the university would facilitate their classes till the court gave a ruling on the matter.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2014.