Student injured as police baton charge protesters demanding reopening of Lahore school

Parents demand that Government Islamia High School be handed back to trust, reopen

LAHORE: A student was injured when they, along with parents clashed with police outside a government school in Lahore on Thursday.

On Thursday, parents and students had gathered outside the Government Islamia High School near Bhati Gate to protest the government takeover of the trust-run school. The school was being run by the Ghazi Education and Welfare Trust for nearly eight years, but recently the government took up the charge of running the school’s affairs.

When the protests by a few hundred parents and students stretched into the afternoon, it precipitated into a clash with police officials. The protesters were baton charged by the police, leaving one student, Fahad Ilyas, severely injured.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Mian Usman Manzoor, father of a student at the school, said, “We were all beaten up by the police and Fahad was also struck by one of the policemen. He was injured and rushed to the hospital by his father.”

Manzoor, whose son studies in grade one at the same school, said that parents were frustrated over the prolonged closure of the school. “The school has been running efficiently for the past several years...all we were demanding was that the government not take over and reopen it immediately.”

According to parents, the school was being run by the trust for the past 12 years.

Another parent, Mian Kashif, said that the school had closed down in mid-December amidst security issues while examinations were in progress. He said the school failed to reopen on January 12 along with other schools.

“Children’s studies are suffering. We were demanding that the school reopen,” he added. Kashif said that the prolonged closure of school was being attributed to security issues by the management.

School to reopen under new principal

A banner was put up at the main entrance of the school asking parents to send their children to school from January 22 which also carried the mobile number of the new principal of the school.

The new principal, Muhammad Ramzan, explained that he had taken charge just two days ago.

Answering questions about the role of the trust in running the school, he said that the trust no longer wanted to run the school. He said that the trust had run the school for eight years, unlike the 12 year claim made by the parents.

“Recently the trust approached the government and asked them to take the school back,” Ramzan said, adding that the trust said could not manage the affairs of the school any longer.

“The school has always been the property of the government which was being run by a trust’ he said ‘but if they don’t want to run it anymore, the government cannot force anyone to do so’.

Addressing concerns of teachers, he said that the school had recently hired 30 teachers and those working under the trust will be adjusted in other schools.

“The school is now open and regular classes will be held for our students.”