Governor will not assent to controversial universities bill, says IJT

Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair was reported to have said on Tuesday that the newly passed bill to amend the laws governing the public sector universities and institutes was objectionable and he would not give his assent to the bill to make it an act of law.

According a press release issued by the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, Zubair made these remarks during a meeting with a delegation of the student organisation at the Governor House on the issue of the controversial Sindh Universities and Institutes Laws (Amendment) Law 2018 passed recently by the provincial assembly.

IJT Karachi leader Umer Ahmed Khan led the delegation, which conveyed to the governor reservations of concerned students of public sector universities in the province over the bill. The delegation expressed concern that the bill had transferred a number of powers to run the public sector universities unduly to the chief minister, and earlier the powers had been exercised by the vice-chancellors of these universities.

The delegates said that the vice-chancellors of public sector universities under the new amended law could be dismissed from service on a summary basis without a proper probe into their alleged misconduct, because now the issuance of a show-cause notice for the purpose was enough.

They also expressed concerns over the falling number of elected representatives on the statutory bodies of the universities in light of the new law.

The press release said that governor supported the viewpoint of the IJT delegation on the issue, saying that he too considered certain contents of the bill highly objectionable and he would not give his assent to the bill.

A few days ago, the governor was reported to have given a similar assurance to a delegation of the Jamaat-e-Islami carrying out a protest movement against the bill. Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman had told journalists on March 19 that Governor Zubair did have serious reservations over the bill.

Rehman said the JI delegation urged the governor to not give his nod of approval to the varsities law as it would be tantamount to usurping the autonomy and independence of public sector universities in the province. It also informed the governor that undue political and government interference in the affairs of public sector universities would badly affect education being provided by them and also affect their academic environment.

The JI leader said that his party had already rejected the law and would not allow such an “anti-public law” to be imposed on people. He said a movement had been launched to preserve the autonomy of Sindh’s public universities and the JI has planned a convention in this regard on April 8.

Stating that the government got the law approved by the assembly in negation of the educational policy of Pakistan Peoples Party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, he said, “The PPP founder had granted freedom and autonomy to the universities, while the present Sindh government has attempted to wrest away this autonomy by imposing the new law.”

However, incidentally, an official handout issued by the Governor House on the same day regarding Zubair’s meeting with the JI delegation, made no mention of the governor’s reaction to the universities law as claimed by the JI Karachi chief, even though the meeting was held exclusively to discuss the law.

According to the handout, the governor informed the JI delegation of the steps initiated by the federal government to develop the major cities of Sindh. The handout quoted the Sindh governor as saying that he had been meeting representatives of different political parties in Karachi in order to take them into confidence and consult them as being important stakeholders about steps initiated by the federal government to develop Karachi and restore peace in the city.

The handout quoted the JI Karachi chief as saying that he appreciated the role of Sindh governor in availing the full support and assistance of the federal government to restore peace in Karachi and develop the city.