RAWALPINDI: The Punjab Directorate of Colleges on Monday removed the principal, vice principal and caretaker of Government Gordon College and decided to put the proposed privatisation of the college on hold in the wake of strong protests by its students and professors.

The students and teachers staged a protest demonstration for the second day on Monday and blocked Murree Road in front of the Directorate of Colleges office near Liaquat Bagh. The protesters chanted slogans against the proposed privatisation and the principal and vice principal for allegedly failing to pursue the case in courts against the college’s privatisation.

The government has planned to hand over the oldest college of the region to Presbyterian Church and the administration of Forman Christian (FC) College Lahore.

The students and teachers had been protesting for the last one month asking the government to drop its plan as after privatisation they would not be able to afford the fee.

Students, teachers call off protest after successful negotiations with govt officials

On Monday, old students of Gordon College also joined the protesters who blocked Murree Road, creating gridlocks in the area. The district administration then sent a team, led by Assistant Commissioner City Shagufta Jabeen, for negotiations with the protesters.

The students and teachers called off the protest after getting their three demands fulfilled in a meeting with district administration officials.

On the demand of the protesters, Gordon College Principal Prof Dr Mohammad Idrees, Vice Principal Prof Dr Mohammad Nafees and caretaker Zeeshan Akram were removed from their posts.

The Punjab Higher Education Department also assured the students and teachers that work on privatisation of the college would be on hold till the decision of the Supreme Court. The directorate will pursue the case in the apex court against the institution’s privatisation.

Talking to Dawn, Director Colleges Rawalpindi Division Prof Sher Ahmed Satti said the protesters were demanding removal of the principal, vice principal and caretaker of the college as they had failed to pursue the case against college’s privatisation.

He said the action committee members also pointed out that the principal, vice principal and caretaker had tried to conceal the college’s original documents, adding that Prof Idrees was holding acting charge of principal and his tenure was for six months. On the demand of the protesters, he has now been removed from the post.

“There is no post of vice principal in Gordon College and the principal appoints a vice principal on his own, therefore he (vice principal) has also become non-functional with the principal’s removal. The caretaker was stopped from working as he was accused by students and teachers of hiding documents of the college,” Prof Satti said.

The director colleges said during the meeting with the protesters, he got it confirmed from the higher education department that there was no plan of privatisation in the coming days.

He also gave assurance to the protesters that the government would pursue the case in the apex court against the college’s privatisation.

He said there were three groups of Christians - Sialkot Mission, FC College and Muzaffargarh Church - which claimed ownership of the college. He said churches of Sialkot and Muzaffargarh wanted the college to remain under the control of the government while the Presbyterian Church of Lahore and FC College administration wanted to get its possession.

The protesters called off the protest but warned that they would take to the streets again if the government tried to hand over the college to the church.

Traffic chaos in city areas

Life in the city’s downtown areas was virtually paralysed on Monday causing inconvenience to hundreds of people for several hours who remained stuck as the main Murree Road on both sides was blocked by Gordon College students and teachers.

Monday’s protest was the second by the students and their teachers against privatisation of the college on the main artery of the city, which caused chaos in the city and its surroundings for several hours. The traffic police was unable to give way to ambulances, garbage trucks and water tankers.

Similar situation had emerged on Saturday when the college students staged a sit-in protest against the proposed privatisation of the college. The protest lasted for more than four hours as the police were unable to manage traffic.

The City Traffic Police blocked Murree Road from Committee Chowk underpass and old Rialto Chowk and diverted traffic to other routes. Additionally, after about two hours when their helpline was flooded with calls from the commuters seeking assistance, the police released a statement.

The statement said Murree Road had been closed due to the protest by students of Gordon College and traffic going to Islamabad was being diverted to alternative routes from Mareer Chowk U-turn.

Traffic coming from Murree Road to Rawalpindi was diverted to alternative routes from Rawal Road turn and Committee Chowk, said the traffic police.

Due to blockade of Murree Road, business activities in the surroundings as well as on the main road were also affected. Women and schoolchildren were seen walking towards their destinations.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2022