The examination boycott by teachers of the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (Fuuast) entered its fourth consecutive day on Thursday, as faculty members from both the Abdul Haq and Gulshan-e-Iqbal campuses intensified their protest against the university administration.
A large number of teachers gathered outside the university’s administrative block in the morning and chanted slogans demanding the presence of Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zabta Khan Shinwari. The protesters vowed to continue their agitation until their demands were met.
Addressing the protest meeting held on the fourth day of the boycott, Karachi University Teachers’ Society (KUTS) President Dr Syed Ghafran Alam and General Secretary Dr Zeeshan Iqbal Siddiqui expressed solidarity with the protesting teachers and announced their support for the faculty’s demands.
The gathering was also addressed by Teachers Association Gulshan-e-Iqbal Campus General Secretary Dr Iftikhar Ahmed Tahiri, Abdul Haq Campus President Dr Roshan Ali Soomro, Vice President Dr Asghar Ali Dashti, General Secretary Dr Iqbal Hussain Naqvi and Joint Secretary Dr Irfan Aziz.
In a resolution adopted at the end of the meeting, the teachers strongly condemned the non-payment of two months’ salaries, four months’ pensions, post-retirement dues, and 26 months of house-ceiling arrears. They also criticised the suspension of medical facilities for employees and pensioners.
The resolution further objected to the establishment of industry-operated medical centres within the university without the approval of the Senate and criticised the vice chancellor’s continued absence from the university’s administrative offices.
Rejecting a committee recently constituted by the vice chancellor to address the crisis, the teachers demanded that Prof Dr Shinwari return to Karachi and directly engage with faculty members to resolve their longstanding financial and administrative issues.
