QAU administration announces campus reopening amid uncertainty

Islamabad :Amid uncertainty, the Quaid-i-Azam University administration on Wednesday announced the resumption of academic and administrative activities today (Thursday).

The development comes after the 15 days long forced campus closure by a group of students against the recent expulsion of their colleagues over violence, higher fee, poor facilities on campus and shortage of hostels.

QAU Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Ashraf told ‘The News’ that the National Assembly standing committee on education and professional training had directed him to ensure the reopening of the university today and therefore, he had announced the resumption of academic and administrative activities in compliance with the directives.

When asked if the students had agreed to call off strike, he said the administration was in constant contact with the protesters and was hopeful about a ‘positive development’. Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmad, who had stepped in to mediate between the administration and strikers, too, confirmed the reopening of the QAU on Thursday.

He said he had asked the students to wait until the Syndicate met, with a hope for favourable decisions. However, there’s uncertainty about the protest of the Quaidian Students Federation students, who had earlier announced that they would end strike only after their demands were met, especially restoration of the colleagues expelled over the May campus violence.

Most students, who were not part of the protests being carried out since Oct 4, said they would ‘wait and see’ before rejoining the university for fear of violent action from strikers.  Teachers, too, feared that they would be subjected to violence by protesters if they tried to resume duty and therefore, they were likely to skip classes on Thursday.

They said the protesters had smashed the windows of the cars of some faculty members, who tried to visit their offices on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, members of the National Assembly standing committee on education and professional training came down hard on the QAU VC during a meeting over the prolonged campus closure by students and asked him to either step down admitting administrative failure or ensure the resumption of academic and administrative activities at all costs today morning (Thursday).  Shortly thereafter, the administration issued a statement announcing the resumption of academic and administrative activities today (Thursday).