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ASA alleges VC Dr Zakria Zakar of trading land to secure full 4-year term
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CJP requested to take suo moto on ‘illegal’ land acquirement
LAHORE: University of the Punjab’s (PU) Academic Staff Association (ASA), Syndicate members and teachers on Wednesday condemned Punjab government’s ‘nefarious’ plans to grab 80-kanal land of the varsity and give it to a private company- National Transmission & Dispatch Company (NTDC).
They also condemned the Vice Chancellor Dr Zakria Zakar for spreading misinformation that PU has been occupying the government land illegally for over 70 years. They said that it is shameful for anyone who is even remotely associated with PU to spread such lies about the oldest and largest institution for higher education in the country.
They alleged Dr Zakar of planning to give this 80-kanal land to the government in an effort to secure a full 4-year term as VC.
They vowed to do everything is their capacity to protect their alma mater from the land grab by the Punjab government, which they said has not given a single penny to PU since 2008.
On the other hand, it has gobbled up over 700-kanal prime land at PU New Campus to build a road connecting Canal Road to Karim Block (Allama Iqbal Town), many kanals of the PU Old Campus land for the Orange Train and Metro Bus projects, and many kanals of Baba (Chishtia High School) Ground to make a parking lot behind the Punjab Civil Secretariat.
All of this land, they say, has been taken without any financial or any other form of compensation. They accused the provincial government of ruining the serene academic environment of PU and making it a hub of illegal political appointments.
The ASA warned the authorities, including the vice chancellor, of dire consequences in case the giving of land to the government is not withdrawn from the agenda of the Syndicate meeting scheduled to be held on March 28.
They demanded from the government to stop their activities of grabbing PU’s land once and for all, replace Dr Zakria Zakar immediately, to hand over the interim charge to the senior most professor and advertise the PU VC post at the earliest in compliance with the January 20, 2018, order of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
They also requested the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to take Suo Moto notice of this land grabbing case, as well as the gobbling of other PU land by the government and direct the the provincial government to compensate the university according to market rates.
