Hyderabad varsity announced by Centre lacks mandatory sanction of Sindh govt, says Wahab

Sindh Adviser on Information and Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab has questioned the federal government’s move to inaugurate a federal university for Hyderabad at the Prime Minister House, Islamabad, saying that the proposed federally funded varsity does not have the necessary sanction of the Sindh government.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Wahab said performing the inauguration in Islamabad of a university based in Hyderabad was tantamount to doing mockery with the people of Sindh.

He said the federal government should have taken the Sindh government on board before materialising its plan of building a public sector university in Hyderabad as varsities had become a provincial subject following the 18th constitutional amendment.

He added that the federal government’s announcement of creating a public sector university was met with doubts as it had earlier failed to fulfil its promise of turning the PM House into a varsity.

Wahab said Prime Minister Imran Khan was under obligation to inform the masses whether or not the charter had been approved for the new public sector university, which would be housed in the PM House, Islamabad.

He said as the varsities had become a provincial subject, the Centre should not make a move, which lacked the necessary sanction of the constitution and the law of the land. He said building a university without passing a proper legislation for the purpose was also considered to be a violation of the law.

Wahab was of the view that as the post of the chairman of the Higher Education Commission was vacant, the move to prepare the plan for a public sector university had become questionable.

He claimed that the Pakistan Peoples Party had the credit of building most public sector universities in the country. It is worth mentioning here that the PM, when he announced Rs162 billion special development package for Karachi during his visit to Karachi last week, also reiterated the commitment of his government to construct and run a public sector university in Hyderabad, which had been a longstanding demand of the residents of the second largest city of Sindh.

News Desk adds: The PM on Thursday laid the foundation stone of Hyderabad University. Addressing the inauguration ceremony, the PM said that he was very delighted to lay the foundation of Hyderabad University. “The dream of becoming a great nation cannot come true without education. Youth will uplift Pakistan to the path of progress if they are provided better education.”

The PM maintained that Muslims ruled the world for 700 years when they focused on education. “Today we don’t have scholar who can respond to Europe and the United States,” he added. The premier also criticised PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for speaking English in Parliament. “Ninety per cent Pakistanis don’t understand English,” he said.