NAWABSHAH, Dec 20: A large number of people, mostly teachers, took out a protest rally here on Friday to protest against the attack on the principal of the Degree College.

All academic activities remained suspended in all the colleges of Nawabshah as a mark of protest.

Protestors included members of the local chapter of the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA), the Primary Teachers Association (PTA), the All Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA) and the Government Secondary Teachers Association (GSTA).

They criticized the attack on the principal of the Degree College, Prof Mehmood Ahmed Khand.

Later, talking to newsmen, the president of the SPLA, Nawabshah, Prof Abdul Kareem Bhatti, criticized the police for having failed to arrest the culprits, who had been nominated in the FIR.

Accusing the attackers of being backed by an MPA from Nawabshah district, he said that they were members of a student organisation.

Prof Mehmood, in the meantime, told newsmen that the assailants, who were carrying weapons, had asked him to waive fees of some students while asking him to grant 75 per cent attendance to students who had been irregular. He said that he was beaten up when he refused to oblige them.

Meanwhile, over 100 students of the Government Degree College staged a rally against the attackers. The students of the Government Sachal Sarmast College boycotted the terminal examinations and wore black arm- bands.

HYDERABAD: The local chapter of the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) on Friday condemned the attack on the principal of the Government Degree College, Nawabshah, Dr Mehmood Ahmed.

In an urgent meeting, the SPLA members demanded of the Sindh governor, the chief minister and the chief secretary to order immediate arrest of the assailants.

The meeting, which was presided over by Prof Sher Khan Salero, warned that if the accused were not arrested within the next 24 hours, the matter would be discussed at the meeting of the Association’s provincial administrative council, scheduled to be held on Saturday.

The meeting urged the Sindh government to provide protection to the principals and teachers of all the colleges during the Sindh University examinations beginning from Dec 23.