Protests against arrest of girls ‘caught cheating’ in exams
SUKKUR: Ghotki Deputy Commissioner Syed Aijaz Ali Shah asked the leaders of teachers’ organisations on Wednesday to withdraw their boycott being observed against the arrest of two girl students from an examination centre at the hands of the Ghotki assistant superintendent of police.
According to an official handout issued by the district information office Ghotki on Wednesday, the DC while presiding over a meeting of different teachers’ associations urged their leaders to resume their exam duty in the larger interest of students.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Government School Teachers’ Association and Sindh Professors and Lecturers’ Association whereas Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Sukkur Chairman Syed Ghulam Mujtaba Shah, Ghotki SSP Masud Bangash, Ghotki ADC-I Saleemullah Odho and assistant commissioners were also present.
The DC said that the act of taking the girl students in custody by Ghotki ASP Asif Bahadur Yousufzai was condemnable.
According to reports, ASP Ghotki Asif Yousufzai along with police contingents conducted raids on the examination centre of the Government Higher Girls Secondary School Umar Dahu of Ghotki district on Tuesday at Mirpur Mathelo and picked up two girl candidates of Class-XI for their alleged involvement in cheating.
They were forced to sit in a police mobile for a long time in the absence of women police during which the girls had been weeping.
When footage of the incident was telecast on private television channels, Ghotki SSP Masud Bangash took notice of it and directed the Ghotki ASP to hand over the girls to mukhtiarkar Nazeer Mahar.
The incident created unrest among political and social leaders as well as lawyers, doctors and citizens, who condemned the incident and demanded immediate action against the ASP of Ghotki. Relatives of the girls also demanded action against the police official. On Wednesday, the Government Schools Teachers’ Association Khangarh boycotted the examinations of Class-XI and XII in protest against police harassment of the girls on Tuesday.
The Sukkur Development Alliance (SDA) and the Association of Private Institutions (API) Sukkur staged a protest demonstration in front of the press club of Sukkur on Wednesday against the incident.
Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2017