Govt must reverse decision to transform IPMR into SIPMR: JI

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said on Thursday the Sindh government would have to withdraw the decision of transforming the Dow University's Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (IPMR) into a separate degree-awarding institute entitled Sindh Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (SIPMR).

He was addressing a protest demonstration held outside the Dow University. A large number of students were holding placards and chanting slogans, demanding of the provincial government to reverse its bill converting the IPMR into SIPMR, which would jeopardise the academic future of around 500 students.

Rehman requested the Supreme Court to take suo moto notice of the matter, and asked Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and the provincial education minister to play their due role to safeguard the future of the students instead of facilitating the varsity’s china-cutting.

He said the JI would support the students if they would stage a protest outside the Sindh Assembly building or the CM House. JI Public Aid Committee leader Imran Shahid, JI Secretary Information Zahid Askari and representatives of the affected students demanded of the university to provide written assurance to the students that they would be given a degree by the Dow University.

They also demanded the university to issue fee vouchers by the Dow University and not the SIPMR, and demanded other facilities, including transportation and library, as the other students of the university.