Islamia college students ward off third eviction attempt

Hundreds of students of Government Islamia College held a protest on New MA Jinnah Road on Friday morning after the police made yet another attempt to expel them from the college building to implement a court’s eviction order.

Holding placards and chanting slogans against the government, groups of students gathered outside the college and tried to disrupt traffic in protest, prompting the Sindh Rangers to intervene.

However, they dispersed peacefully after holding talks with the police.Policemen at the site told reporters that they had arrived to vacate the college for the third time since November, as per a court’s order, but due to the unrest created by students, they decided not to go ahead with it at the time. They added that they still had orders to get the building vacated and have to follow them.

A similar protest had erupted earlier in February when the police, along with a court bailiff, made efforts to vacate the college building. The students had gathered outside the college at around 10am and set ablaze tyres and furniture to block traffic. The police, subsequently, used teargas shells and water cannons to disperse the protesting students and opened the road for traffic. An FIR was also registered against the protesters for interfering in the implementation of court orders, but no student was arrested.

In January, the rent controller of District East, Syed Nadeem Zafar Hashmi had directed the deputy inspector general of police (East) to vacate the educational complex which houses around five state-run educational institutions including Government Islamia Science College, Government Islamia Arts & Commerce College, which runs in two shifts, Government Islamia Law College and Qureshi Government Secondary School. The court of rent controller had also directed the DIG to submit a compliance report by February 19 in the court.

On November 23, a trial court had issued the order to vacate the college building after the Islamic Education Trust, under which the college operates, claimed ownership of the college’s complex. The court had ordered to seal the building and hand it over to the trustees.

The police had made the first attempt to vacate the college in November, but students had stopped them then too by protesting. The students had stressed that they would not accept any decision regarding vacating the college’s complex. The students and faculty have moved a local court to set aside the rent controller’s decision.

Instead of following the case in court, the Sindh government offered a new complex to the college students and faculties. However, they turned down the offer, demanding being allowed to continue their studies in the college building.