PESHAWAR: Teachers and other employees of various universities on Thursday continued their protest sit-in for the fourth consecutive day against the police highhandedness and in support of their demands and a number of political leaders visited their protest camp to express solidarity with them.
The protest sit-in was led by president Peshawar University Teachers Association Dr Fazle Nasir, general secretary federation of All Pakistan Academic Staff Association Dr Sadiq Ali and others.
The political leaders and representatives of the civil society who visited the protest camp assured full support to the protesting teachers. They strongly criticised the government for using force against university professors, which was a matter of shame for the rulers.
They said that staging protest for one’s genuine rights is the constitutional right of every citizen and the university teachers being the most educated, responsible and respectable citizens could never be denied their rights.
Prominent among those, who visited the protest camp were Inayatullah Khan, Jamaat-e-Islami parliamentary leader in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Khushdil Khan, leader of Awami National Party, Haji Ghulam Ali of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and others. Dr Fazle Nasir thanked all the guests for their support. He said that they would continue their protest campaign till unconditional acceptance of all their demands. He said that the universities would remain closed during the protest campaign. He said the government was demonstrating stubbornness.
He said that all their demands were genuine and lawful. Some elements were trying to spread propaganda against the respectable faculty members of universities that they were against academic and financial reforms in universities. He said that they were never against any such reforms, but added that unfortunately the term “reform” was being misused by the rulers.
He said cutting the salaries of the employees was not a reform at all. Also, the rulers were treating universities like business firms, Dr Fazle Nasir said.
He said someone should tell the rulers that universities don’t serve as corporate institutions anywhere in the world, but they are the promoters of light and education. Education is not sold to people, rather it is the responsibility of the rulers to provide education to the people, he said.
He said that they were still waiting for a positive response from the government. The so-called committee formed by the government, which was comprised of a few bureaucrats, was not acceptable to them; rather they considered those included in the committee as the cause of the mess.
They said the government should immediately tender apology for the torture of the professors and take to task those responsible for it. There should be no hike in student fees and a higher education commission should be set up at the provincial level on the pattern of Punjab and Sindh. The Higher Education Department letter seeking cut in the salaries and allowances of teachers should be taken back. Also, they said a substantial increase should be made in the budget of higher education.