Police baton charge students as they resisted to vacate Islamia College Karachi

KARACHI, Nov 19,2022- Police baton charged students, when they resisted to vacate the building of Islamia College Karachi.

To implement the order of the Supreme Court, the judicial staff arrived to vacate the building of Islamia College Karachi.

The police used shelling and baton charge to disperse the students.

Police also used water cannons to disperse the students.

Protesters outside Islamia College were dispersed by the police.

Islamia College students raised slogans against the police, the police detained several students.

Police said that Islamia College is situated on a private property, they came to support the court bailiffs.

The possession of the college will be handed over to the trustees who won the case, police said.

The police also say that two to three students have been taken into custody and transferred to the police station.

On the other hand, the Islamia College administration said that no legal notice was received to vacate the college.

Background

Since 2001 the college has been embroiled in a number of lawsuits concerning its possession at not just the sessions court but also the Sindh High Court (SHC) as well as the Supreme Court.

1948 a group of people laid the foundation of the Islamic Education Society under the Registration Act, 1860. The founder of this society was Abdul Rehman Muhammad Qureshi, who already had to his name the setting up of around 17 schools and colleges, all working under his supervision and administration.

He was also the one to introduce the Qureshi Night College in Karachi. The college was the first of its kind in Pakistan and was quick to gain fame among students also working jobs during the day.

The same year the society set up the Islamia College in a small building at Clayton Road near the Mazar-e-Quaid. With the passage of time, the building proved insufficient for the growing number of students. The society then decided to acquire a suitable plot and have a bigger building constructed.

The court’s record reveals that the society appealed to the general public in 1958 for donations to construct a building for the college. An account titled the Islamic Education Society Building Fund was opened in the Bank of Bahawalpur, through which the society collected Rs15 million.

The Government of Pakistan also contributed Rs1 million. The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation allotted a plot to the trust on a 99-year lease at a cost of Rs2 per square yard per annum.

In the first phase a mosque and a single-storey building was constructed for the college. The trustees added two more storeys to the building. The complex was inaugurated by Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan, also the then president of Pakistan, on August 25, 1961. A little time after the inauguration, Qureshi entered into a rent agreement, worth Rs58,000 per month, with the governing body of the Islamia College through the then principal GM Khan.