LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry on Tuesday ordered the Punjab government not to take any disciplinary action against the teachers who took part in a protest against the formation of Board of Governors (BoGs) in colleges.The teachers and students were protesting against the provincial government’s decision to establish BoGs at colleges when the police allegedly subjected them to severe torture. They were trying to enter the Punjab Assembly building.The CJ on Tuesday formed a division bench to decide the issue and fixed December 20 for the case hearing.Additional Advocate General Hanif Khatana said the government had decided to appoint Board of Governors to improve the education standard.He said 10 colleges, including the Government College University, Lahore, Queen Marry College, Lahore, Government College Chuna Mandi, Lahore, Kinnaird College, Lahore and Government Boys College, Faisalabad, had already been placed under the Board of Governors (BoGs) and were running smoothly.
He said college fees would not be increased nor will the job structure of teachers would be changed. He said the teachers were using students for their vested interests.On teachers and students reservation on a four-year bachelor’s degree programme, Khatana submitted that the government had made this plan to upgrade the standard of bachelor’s degree. He said it took four years to complete a bachelor’s degree all over the world due to which Pakistani bachelor’s degree holders faced many problems.The chief justice directed the teachers not to take to the roads again as the matter was in the court. He advised them that everyone should play their role for the betterment of the country, and should be extra careful, as they had to guide the youth.Earlier, Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Rao Sardar Ali appeared before the court and submitted a report about the incident.
According to the report, the protesting teachers and students had blocked the road and also damaged buses and other public property. He stated that the protesters had also entered the assembly building and damaged property.He stated that the security officials deputed at the assembly acted against teachers and students to ensure security on the premises, which could not be compromised in any case.He submitted that the action by the officials against the protesters was defensive as the students had crossed the security limits.The CJ had taken suo moto notice on media reports, which said that police resorted to heavy baton charge on protesters belonging to Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association’s Joint Action Committee and the students of Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT). The demonstrators had managed to force their way to the main gate of the assembly after breaking into the security cordon – Dailytimes
