SM Law College students protest non-issuance of admit cards

A protest at the SM Law College took a violent turn on Friday evening as enraged students angry over the non-issuance of admit cards with just few days left to the start of their annual exams pelted stones at the building.

A video shared widely on social media showed a dozen or so students gathered at the college’s main entrance, chanting slogans against the government as well as college principal and administration.

According to some protesting students who spoke to The News after the incident, a student started pelting stones at the building, damaging several windows and doors. Soon after, other protesting students also joined in, they said.

“First they [college administration] told us that they would get the exam delayed to ensure there is more time to distribute admit cards to students, but now they have shut the college,” one student told The News later in the day.

He said the college academically reopens on January 9, but administrative offices were supposed to remain open before that so that students could come and collect their admit cards. Another student appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan to take action against the college administration. “It is alarming that the administration is playing with our future and this is a criminal act,” she said.

Another student said that the administrative superintendent who runs the affairs of the college has been absent for the past several days. Therefore, a number of students could not collect their admit cards for examination which will begin on January 7.

When contacted, Farid Dayyo, the college in-charge, said the administration has not received admit cards from Karachi University so it cannot issue them to students. He added that KU has itself extended examination dates.

Dayyo further said that the protesting students should have contacted the office before launching a violent protest. He said when he finds out who damaged the college building, he would register an FIR against them. He insisted that the college was not closed. “I was busy in finalising the examination forms of the candidates,”