On the call of the Karachi University Teachers Society (KUTS), a black day was observed on Friday against housing security officials in buildings at the Karachi University for carrying out the upcoming census drive.
According to KUTS office-bearers, army personnel misbehaved with teachers and students as the security officers stopped them from entering the new building of pharmacy department because of academic activities were badly affected.
The KUTS expressed serious concerns over reports that personnel of other governments would also be housed in buildings at the varsity as the teacher’s society had earlier urged the varsity management not to lend any building to the census staff.
Teachers performed their teaching and administrative duties while wearing black armbands to register their protest.
Officials of the KUTS said that the university administration, syndicate members, deans and other varsity officials had earlier decided not to hand over buildings for the census drive. They had also agreed to communicate this decision to the deputy-commissioner concerned.
The teacher’s representative body said that under one pretext or another, attempts were being made to accommodate census staff in buildings of the Faculty of Pharmacy, hostels, and other departments.
The KUTS condemned maintained that it would not allow use of any building at the campus for any purpose other than imparting higher education to students and doing research. The society said such attempts would cause irreparable damage to the basic mandate of the KU related to promotion of academics.
The KUTS would do whatever it could do to conserve the academic sanctity and autonomous status of the university.
According to the KUTS, many buildings are being taken by the security forces, including the pharmacy building, special education, gymnasium, HEC PhD hostels and guests house.
“The army captured one block of the pharmacy building and therefore M Phil classes couldn’t be conducted on Friday. The laboratories were captured by armed forces and no one was allowed entering inside the building,” said a KUTS official.
“The KUTS will hold a general body meeting on March 14 as teachers of the will draw up plans to stop handing over buildings of the campus for any purpose other than promotion of higher education,” the official said.
But the KU public relation officer said that no academic activity would be affected because of the presence of the census staff in the varsity.
He said the Pakistan Army was assisting the government for conducting the national census in view of the Supreme Court judgement.
“The KU Syndicate members and deans have unanimously expressed their satisfaction over the allotment of place in the non-academic block of the campus to the staff of the national institution for six weeks. It is what others universities also do.”
