Fate of DJ College in doldrums

JI Ameer accuses Sindh Govt of closing down the college by curtailing enrollment, shifting offices

KARACHI: The future of the 19th-Century Dayaram Jethamal (DJ) Science College has become uncertain after the provincial government’s plan to set up offices of the Sindhi Language Authority inside the historic building.

The issue became the talk of the town when the Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman raised it in the media, accusing the Sindh government of closing down the government college by curtailing enrollment and shifting government offices.

MQM Pakistan Spokesman Khwaja Izharul Hasan and Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah were not available to comment despite several attempts.

The Sindh Professors Lecturers Association (SPLA) also expressed its concerns over the establishment of the language authority’s offices inside the building of the college.

Central President SPLA Professor Munawar Abbas said, “First of all, we are not against any language and especially Sindhi language which is my mother tongue. Teachers are above all the biases and always in favour of promoting languages but the way the offices of Sindh Language Authority are being established in the DJ Science College is objectionable.”

He said, “We have met with the acting Secretary of Education Abdul Aleem Lashari and expressed our reservations. His response was very positive and he assured us that the offices of the authority would be shifted to another place in two to three months.” Abdul Aleem Lashari is the Additional Secretary holding the additional charge of the Secretary of Education.

Professor Abbas said that a section of the college  had already been occupied by the school education department several years ago. Similarly, many hostels for years have remained in the custody of Pakistan Rangers. They had established a helipad on the sports ground near Rangers headquarters so half of the ground was already useless and now the whole of it would practically go into their custody.

“We cannot trust the words of the government. They will occupy two to three rooms for offices of language authority and then they may occupy the rest of the rooms as well,” he expressed.

He suggested establishing offices in the colleges in Federal B Area or in Jamia Millia, which were the institutes to train teachers. These offices could be established there. “We spoke to the Secretary of Education and he agreed to our proposals and assured us that he would talk to the Sindh Education Minister”, Prof Abbas added.

Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman demanded the establishment of the office of the authority inside the premises of Bilawal House or the CM House and not in the DJ Science College.

Expressing grave concerns over the steep decline in admissions to the college, he said that hundreds of brilliant students were offered admission to this historic college every year whereas this year the number of admissions was reduced by 85 per cent indicating a very clear picture of attempts being made to collapse the institution to grab the structure.

SPLA President Prof Munwar Abbas did not agree with the claim of conspiracy in declining the admissions and said it was the inefficiency and inability of Rashid Khoso, who is an assistant director in the office of DG education department but acting like a de facto secretary.

He said that the policy change in admissions and closing of the subject of Humanities in various colleges in the city had brought a bad impact and the SPLA raised its voice against the steps taken by Rashid Khoso.

The JI leader highlighted that the college has a hostel with a capacity of 200 students. However, the college was deprived of the hostel many years ago, he lamented.

He warned of staging a series of protests against such encroachment attempts and grabbing the historic building of the DJ Science College. He said that the DJ College was considered a famous educational institution in Karachi and across the country as well and was also declared a national heritage.

A group of students from the college staged a protest at the majestic entrance of the institution against the education department’s alleged occupation of the college rooms. They also demanded of the education department to post the teachers on vacant posts in the college and open the classrooms so that the classes could be conducted.

History

The present historic building of the DJ Science College, located near the city’s popular food street called Burns Road, was completed in 1887. It took five years to be completed with a reported cost of Rs186,514 out of which the government contributed Rs97,193. The foundation stone was laid in 1882 by the Viceroy of India Lord Dufferin. At the time of laying the foundation stone, the name of the college was announced as Sindh Arts College but after the handsome funds donated by Dayaram Jethmal, the college was renamed DJ Science College upon its completion.

The college was opened on 17 January 1887 by His Excellency Lord Reay, the Governor of Bombay in a bungalow in Thaitai Compound, situated on Bunder Road. Later it was shifted to the present building in 1892. For the next sixty years, DJ Science College catered to the intellectual and academic needs of the people of the Province, as the only institution in the area. It prepared students for the graduate and post-graduate courses offered at Bombay and Sindh University. It also provided research facilities in science.

Photo: Athar Khan Bol News