Goons running the show at BB’s Lyari college?

Just three months into regular classes, staff at the medical college in Lyari – named after the slain Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Benazir Bhutto – has refused to continue working at the institution due to continuous harassment by gangsters operating in the area.
The principal of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Lyari Medical College (LMC) said on Saturday that about 400 staff members, including professors, have stopped working and most of them have submitted their resignations to the college principal.
Reportedly, the female staff at the college is being harassed by criminals while the male staffers are compelled to pay extortion money.
The gangsters follow the females into the premises as they arrive at the college and follow them when they return home. The college vice principal was also recently harassed by unidentified people and was also threatened of kidnapping.
The male staffers complained that they were receiving life threats from unidentified persons and have also paid extortion.
The college principal has also not been spared.
LMC Principal Prof Iqbal Memon said that muggings and harassment in the hospital have become the order of the day.
“During the meeting of the academic council, the faculty members and staff announced going on indefinite strike.
“These problems have been continuing on for the past many months. We have written many letters to the Sindh Chief Minister but to no avail.
“The staff will not come back until their grievances and complaints are addressed,” the principal said.
Memon said that he had also been receiving threats and the prevailing circumstances have put the future of the college and students at stake. Talking with Pakistan Today, LMC Vice Principal Dr Anjum Khan said it is a routine matter that the college staff is threatened. “I personally received life threats when an unidentified caller asked me to pay extortion money, otherwise I will be kidnapped.”
“Now our staff has decided that without security, they will not return to their jobs,” she added.
The college was established in 2010 on the orders of President Asif Ali Zardari, who also participated in the college’s opening ceremony in February 2011.