KARACHI: Students from Government Girls Degree College Block N, North Nazimabad have started protesting against a cricket academy taking over their campus.

On Thursday, they moved to the Karachi Press Club in the hope that they will be taken seriously. Their college has been closed since January 2, Monday. A court is hearing a dispute over the college grounds of Sarfaraz Ahmed Academy.

“We have been protesting for three days in North Nazimabad.” a student said. “Today, we are forced to protest outside the Karachi Press Club. If the college is not opened, we will protest outside the Sindh Assembly and the Sindh High Court. The college should be opened as soon as possible so the exams can be held.”

The college has more than 800 students. The protesting students held a symbolic lesson on a sidewalk outside the press club.

The call for protest was given by the students, the Parents Action Committee, and the Students Parents Federation of Pakistan. It is sad to see the education department’s silence on the matter, parents said.

The college reportedly suspended classes after receiving a directive from the Sindh government. The closure will delay enrollments and practical exams.

In the course of the demonstration, protesters chanted: “We want education, not cricket,” “Sarfraz Ahmed evacuate our college ground,” and “Restore Education in Government Girls Degree College.”

Background

In February 2022, cricketer and former team captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed was accused of building his cricket academy on illegal land.

The Sarfaraz Ahmed Cricket Academy in North Nazimabad Block N in Karachi is located on a plot owned by the Government Degree Girl’s College for Women.

According to the college principal, the plot belongs to the college and the cricket academy is built illegally on it. “I have documentation of this amenity plot assigned for Education,” she said. “As per law, an amenity plot is not transferable for any other purpose,” she told the media. Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab has no authority to distribute this land, she argued.

For its part, the cricket academy claims that the land does not come under the jurisdiction of the college.

Karachi Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab dismissed the allegations. He told the media that the land for Sarfaraz Ahmed Academy is owned by KMC and that the cricketer was given charge of it after Pakistan won the Champions Trophy in 2017.