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The News (Jang Group) Page: City News Karachi.
Alleged
Plot To Grab Islamia College Building Karachi
Tuesday, November 18, 2008,
By our correspondent, Karachi,
Islamic Education Trust (IET) General Secretary, Syed Kamran Hussain,
has alleged that Afroze Shah, who is claiming to be a trustee of IET and the official assignee, Kadir Bukhsh Umrani, are partners
and both want to grab the Islamia College
building complex. Mr. Hussain said that advocate Naeem Suleman (for official assignee, Karachi) is in civil case of ex 17/2008
in the court of 3rd Rent Controller, East, Karachi (IET through Official Assignee Karachi Umrani Vs CDGK and Others) and this
same Advocate (for Afroze Shah) is in criminal revision no 54/2008 in the Sindh High Court (Mrs. Mumtaz Muzakkir Vs Afroze
Shah). He said that the same person is the Advocate for Shah and Umrani which is evidence that the two are partners and want
to grab the aforesaid building.
Website: http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=147457
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THE NEWS (JANG GROUP) Page: City News Karachi.
IET Files Application To Counter The Evacuation Order.
Friday, 07 November 2008, By Farooq Baloch, Karachi. |
The principals of Islamia College received a notice from Third Rent Controller asking him to
explain why the building has not been vacated and why execution orders were not yet issued, The News learnt.
However, the chances of execution orders from Rent Controller to vacate Islamia College building
have minimised after the General Secretary (GS) of Islamia Education Trust (IET) intervened and filed two applications before
the same court on Thursday.
President Asif Ali Zardari has directed the Sindh government to immediately resolve the Islamia
College problem, a press notification stated. Moreover, the education department claims that the problem will be resolved
in two days.
Talking to The News GS, IET Syed Kamran Hussain said that they have filed an application u/s
12 (2) r/w section 20 of Sindh Rented Premises Ordinance 1979 before the same concerned court and requested it to dismiss
the orders of vacating the building. In their application, he maintained, they have the vacation order was against the deed
of the trust. IET being a charitable trust can not snatch college building from thousands of students thus the order should
be recalled.
He further said that they also filed a second application before the same court to get a stay
order against the expected execution orders till the previous order is recalled. He also said that till their applications
are dealt with the concerned court cannot issue execution orders.
The ongoing issue of the Islamia College building complex has now entered into a difficult
scenario. Sources from the Sindh Education Department (SED) claim the matter will be resolved in a couple of days while the
parties concerned have been issued another notice from the concerned Rent Controller regarding the evacuation of the building.
Experts believe that after the SED fails to get a stay order against the orders of the Third
Rent Controller to vacate the building, the execution orders are likely to be issued then. According to reliable sources,
the principal of the concerned college has been called on by the Third Rent Controller today (Friday) to explain why the execution
with regard to previous orders should not be carried out. The sources said that the lower court might then and there issue
the execution orders to vacate the Islamia College building complex.
When contacted, legal experts said that all the concerned parties (principals of colleges and
schools under the Islamia College building complex) can indeed file an application to the Rent Controller u/s 12 (2) of PPC
r/w section 20 of Sindh Rented Premises Ordinance 1979. They also said that they should raise the point that the matter has
been mishandled since the beginning and it will be unfair with them if execution orders are issued. He also said that keeping
in view that there have been violations of sale and rent agreements, they can request for the cancellation of the orders of
vacating the building.
Meanwhile, the SED claimed in a press statement that President Zardari has directed the Sindh
government to resolve this matter immediately. The statement further said that Sindh Minister for Education, Pir Mazharul
Haq has called on Governor Sindh in this regard and assured him that they won’t let Islamia College close. He also assured
the parents and teachers of the students of Islamia College that he is taking personal interest in the proceedings of this
case and will make sure that the college continues functioning and the students don’t suffer.
Contrary to the optimistic statements of the SED, they had taken up the matter has been taken
up in the wrong court, commented a legal expert. “The Rent Controller issued the orders and therefore a First Rent Appeal
(FRA) should have been filed against the same order in the same court,” he adds. “Why did the education department
file a Constitutional Petition in the Sindh High Court (SHC) then?” he questioned. “They are complicating a simple
issue. Even if the petition gets filed in the Supreme Court, it will still be dismissed,” he commented. |
Website: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=145361
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THE NEWS (JANG GROUP) Page: City News Karachi. |
SC Urged To Take Suo Moto Notice
Thursday, October 30, 2008, By Farooq Baloch, Karachi:
The on-going row of Islamia College building complex took a violent turn when the protesting students were baton
charged and arrested by the police.
Talking to The News, sources from IJT said that they would be observing a protest
day on Thursday to condemn the arrest of their colleagues. According to IJT, they are extremely upset over the shelling and
baton-charging by the police and arrest of their fellows. Earlier during their protest in the morning, the students had appealed
to Supreme Court to take suo moto notice since the matter pertains to the future of thousands of students.
Meanwhile,
another meeting between the founder trustee Mumtaz Muzakir and Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ebad was held on Wednesday, which
was also participated by Governor’s Secretary for Education Rabia Javeri. The founder trustee discussed several options
for resolving the ongoing row of Islamia College building complex with the governor who assured full cooperation in this regard.
According
to the General Secretary of the Islamia Education Trust (IET), the governor was proposed that the IET would have no objection
if the Sindh government takes over the complex and declares it a heritage building. Secondly, if the Sindh government pays
dues to the trust, the money should be distributed among deserving students for scholarship and other welfare projects and
a society should be established for the purpose. The GS of IET said that the rent money (dues) should not be given to trustees
since there were chances of corruption and misuse of funds.
It may be mentioned here that Sindh Education Department’s
constitutional petition was dismissed by Sindh High Court on Tuesday, while Director Inspection Colleges has said that they
would be filing an appeal in Supreme Court within three to four days.
Website: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=143949
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THE NEWS (JANG GROUP) Page: City News Karachi. |
Is The Government Dragging Its Feets?
Wednesday, October 29, 2008, By Farooq Baloch, Karachi:
The Sindh High Court’s (SHC) dismissal on Tuesday of a constitutional petition filed by the Sindh Education
Department to get a stay against the orders of a rent controller, reflects an important oversight by the government in the
on-going Islamia College building complex row, The News has learnt.
According to a legal expert who requested anonymity,
the decision of the SHC to dismiss the petition was based on the grounds that the matter has to be settled through an appeal
and not a petition. ìSindh Education Department has committed a blunder since they should have filed an appeal and not a petition,î
he said, adding, even if they file a petition in the Supreme Court they would receive the same decision as the matter has
to be settled through an appeal. Islamia Law College has already done that and they have obtained a stay order against the
orders of government rent controller, he said.
On the other hand, General Secretary of Islamia Education Trust (IET)
Syed Kamran as well as the representatives of Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association blamed the government for showing
ìirresponsible attitudeî in this regard.
Kamran proposed that after the dismissal of Sindh governmentís petition, the
Governor Sindh, who has already intervened into this matter, should immediately issue a notification to terminate the official
assignee Qadir Bux Usmani.
Kamran has alleged that the current official assignee, who is the assumed owner of the property,
is a partner of junior trustees Afroze Shah and Khalid Rehman. According to him, the junior trustees have already been fired
from the trust due to their mala fide intentions of grabbing the building and converting it into shopping plaza and car showroom.
He also alleged that former MPA Murad Ali Shah is a close friend of the official assignee and related to Anwer Ali Shah -
the husband of Afroze. “They are all lobbying to grab the historical property of Islamia Education Trust,” he
alleged while expressing his concern over the “irresponsible attitude” of Sindh government to react at the eleventh
hour.
When contacted, Principal Islamia Law College Syed Mamnoon Hussain confirmed that they have obtained a stay order
by filing an appeal and not a petition. He, however, maintained that there was no agitation as far as their college was concerned
since they were tackling the matter legally. He further said that, on July 2, they had filed their appeal against the decision
of the lower court to hand over the building to the official assignee of SHC and obtained the stay order till November 1.
He further said that he was ready to advise the Sindh Education Department on how to tackle the matter legally.
Director
Inspection Colleges (Sindh) Arshad Jamal, when contacted, said that they would now go to the Supreme Court. He maintained
that since the governor has intervened into the matter, the same may be solved through him. Asked if the official assignee
could file execution, he said that, since they have time for appeal, the official assignee could not get execution orders.
When
asked to reveal the findings of governor’s committee on the said matter, sources from the Governor House said that Rabia
Javeri, Governor’s Secretary on Education, has submitted the findings of the report to the governor Sindh. “It
is now up to the governor as to what steps he takes,” the sources added.
Regarding the concerns of senior trustees
and teachers’ associations over the “irresponsible attitude” of the government in this regard, Director
General Colleges (Sindh) has already said that they filed the petition soon after the college informed them about the matter.
Similarly, spokesman for Chief Minister Sindh has also said in a press statement that the government has done their best to
save the building from being vacated while there was no danger to building and students must not worry about it.
Website: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=143779
THE NEWS (JANG GROUP) PAGE CITY NEWS KARACHI.
IET Proposes Government Takeover Of Islamia College Building.
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Monday, October 27, 2008, By By Farooq Baloch,
Karachi:
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan has finally intervened into the eviction issue of the Islamia College complex.
His Secretary on Education, Rabia Javeri, will hold a meeting with the Chief Trustee, Islamia Education Trust, (IET) on Monday.
Meanwhile, General Secretary, IET, Syed Kamran Hussain, has proposed that the government takeover the premises, declare
it a heritage building and immediately terminate the official assignee in Karachi.
The Islamia College complex, which
currently houses four colleges and four schools with more than 20,000 enrolled students, was issued a six-month legal notice
by a lower court that asked the management to either pay outstanding dues or vacate the building. Due to continuous reports
in the media and protests by the college students and teachers, the issue gained momentum and finally the governor intervened
into the matter and directed his secretary concerned to meet the chief trustee in this connection.
Syed Kamran Hussain
has proposed that the government should immediately terminate the Official Assignee Karachi Qadir Bux or he may file execution
of the former notice that declared him assumed owner of the said property.
When asked to explain why the other trustees
were trying to take over the building, Hussain said: “They want to build a car showroom and shopping plaza on the said
premises which will deprive thousands of students of education.”
The conflict between the trustees began when
trustee Afroze Shah and trustee Khalid Rehman Qureshi allegedly filed a constitutional petition against the Sindh Education
Department in 2001 that binds the government to either pay outstanding dues or vacate the building.
Hussain said that
they had opposed Afroze Shah and Khalid Rehman since his grandfather A M Qureshi had founded the IET in 1958 for education
purpose. “After the death of some senior trustees, Afroze and Khalid were inducted in the trust in good faith but due
to their mala fide intentions they were fired,” he said and added that the complex should be taken over by the Sindh
government and declared a heritage site.
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| Website: http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=143306 |
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THE NEWS (JANG GROUP) Page: City News Karachi. |
Fog Of Uncertainty Over Islamia College Karachi Premises
Saturday, October 25, 2008, By our correspondent, Karachi:
Despite the feeling of uncertainty among the students and teachers of Islamia College Building Complex, the Sindh
Government is optimistic about addressing the issue in favour of students and teachers. Although, the date of six-month notification
given to the management of Islamia College expires on October 25, the Director, Inspection, Sindh Government, says there is
no possibility of the concerned party taking over the building.
The confusion as well as uncertainty on the future
of building in question continues as the stake holders of the complex have expressed mixed feelings. The building is the property
of the Islamic Education Trust but the trustees have a conflict amongst themselves. The two senior trustees are in favour
of the students and want the building to remain under the possession of Sindh government. While other two trustees want the
official assignee to take over the building. Unless the matter of trustees is settled in the court, the official assignee
as per orders of a lower court is the assumed owner of the building.
The building may be taken over by the official
assignee on Sunday since there will be students on Saturday (the date of maturing of the lower court notification). However,
when contacted in this connection, the Director, Inspection, Government of Sindh Arshad Jamal said that they cannot take over
the building like that. Asked if they had been able to get a stay on the notification, he said, ‘We have not yet taken
the stay order but the official assignee cannot take over the building since he has to take permission of the Sindh High Court
(SHC) for the purpose of execution.’
He further said that since they had already filed a Constitutional Petition
in the SHC, it may not be possible for the concerned party to take possession. Asked why Sindh government reacted so late,
he said that when the petition was filed they had one month’s time to file their appeal but they were informed only
when the one-month time limit was over. He maintained that they would get a decision in favour of the students who should
not worry about the situation.
The Controversy And The Conflict Among Trustees
Two senior
trustees Muhammad Hussain Qureshi and Mumtaz Muzakkir claim that they are the founder trustees and Islamic education trust
is the real owners of the property since they were part of the trust in 1958 and were still alive. They added three more
trustees in 1990, Khalid Rehman Qureshi, his son Ismail who is US-born and lives there, and Afroze Shah.
Both Muhammad
Hussain Qureshi and Mumtaz Muzzakir, said Syed Kamran, General Secretary of the Islamic Education Trust, are the founder
trustes of the Islamic education Trust. He alleged that they had already fired Khalid and Afroze from the trust. He,
however, maintained that Khalid and Afroze would be permanently fired once the court orders were issued in this connection
since it is the matter of trust. Kamran also said that Muhammad Hussain and Mumtaz want their fathers’ dream to continue.
They said that the late A.M. Qureshi (founder of Islamia College Building Complex) wanted students to benefit from the building
by getting education. Therefore they, as trustees, also wanted this and support SPLA and student organisations to keep the
possession of the building.
Regarding the lower court’s decision in favour of the assumed owner (the official
assignee), Kamran said that unless the matter of trustees was decided, the official assignee was the assumed owner. However,
he alleged, Afroze and Khalid had been conspiring to possess the property and also get hold of its monthly rent (Rs1 million)
from the Sindh government. Therefore, they had made the official assignee their partner.
He said that Afroze and Khalid
filed a constitutional petition in 2001 without letting senior trustees know. When we came to know about their mala fide intentions
of occupying the building, they were fired from the trust, he said. Regarding rental money he said that since their trust
is a charitable body the rent money is for student welfare and if it is not paid the students would suffer thus the building
cannot be taken from students.
He also alleged that official assignee and the fired trustees Afroze and Khalid enjoyed
influence in Sindh government.
REGIONAL TIMES DATED 29th OCTOBER, 2008 IN (METRO KARACHI) PAGE.
Karachi 28th OCTOBER 2008: A meeting of Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) was held in Islamia College here
on Tuesday in which SPLA members were assured that Islamia College handing over issue would soon be resolved.
Member Provincial Assembly Sindh, Sardar Ahmed, Member National Assembly, Abdul Rasheed, Islamic Education Trust General
Secretary, Syed Kamran Hussain and SPLA members were also present in the meeting.
SPLA additional secretary Prof Iftikhar Mohammad Azmi told PPI that the matter of the college is in court and there are
two Trustees whcih are claiming for the possession of college. He said that one of the Trustees want to keep college as an
educational institute while other so called trustees wants to use it for other purpose.
Prof Iftikhar said that the officials who visited the college have assured us hat the college would continue to be an educational
institute as it is serving the masses. He said nearly 20,000 students are enrolled in the college and what would happen to
them if the college is closed. He said that the government has raised the matter in court and now court will decide about
the future of college.—Agency
Website: http://regionaltimes.com/29oct2008/metrokarachinews/islmia.htm
Daily Times
Wednesday, October 29, 2008, Karachi:
Islamia College Complex: SHC dismisses petition against vacate order
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court dismissed on Tuesday a constitutional petition filed by the Sindh Education
Department, an apparently half-hearted attempt to stop the vacate order of the Islamia College Complex, as not maintainable.
The complex houses over a dozen educational institutions. As a last ditch effort, a constitutional petition was filed
by the Sindh government, through counsel Suleman Habibullah, against the Islamic Education Trust, which owns the complex spreading
over 22,349 square yards, known as the Islamia College Building Complex.
The petitioner challenged the order of the
3rd Rent Controller, Karachi East, who in an order issued on April 26, 2007, directed the tenants to peacefully vacate the
premises and hand over possession within six months of the order.
The vacate order was passed as the respondent had
been unable to pay rent of Rs 12.33 million from December 2001 to February 2006. The total accumulated arrears are stated
to be Rs 115.8 million. On Tuesday, the SHC bench, headed by Justice Ali Sain Dino Metlo, citing a judgment by the Supreme
Court of Pakistan, held that the petitioner had bypassed the appellate forum (rent appeal) and the apex court has disapproved
the acceptance of a constitutional petition by the Peshawar High Court.
The bench said that in view of the apex court’s
judgment, the constitutional petition is not maintainable and dismissed the petition. More than a dozen educational institutions,
including Islamia Arts, Science and Commerce College (evening and morning shifts), Qureshi Higher Secondary School, German
Model Secondary School, Qureshi Primary Boys School, Noor Public Primary School and Sindh Primary School, will be affected
by the delay in filing of an appeal before a proper forum.
Abdul Rehman M. Qureshi founded the Islamic Education Trust
in 1958. He ran 18 different educational institutions in the city, some of which were nationalized in 1973, meaning that the
Sindh government was to pay rent to the trust.
Website: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C10%5C29%5Cstory_29-10-2008_pg12_1
The
New (Jang Group).
‘Not enough being done to save Islamia College’
Monday,
January 12, 2009,
Karachi
City Page,
By Our
Correspondent, Karachi.
Authorities concerned are not
doing enough to save the Islamia College Complex building, despite efforts on the part of the trustees, said Islamia Education
Trust (IET) General Secretary Mr. Syed Kamran Hussain. “Despite instructions from President Asif Ali Zardari, no response
was received from the Sindh chief secretary. The Advocate General (AG) Sindh office has also disappointed us, while the position
of Mrs. Afroze Shah and her partners is getting stronger,” he alleged.
The sequence of events taking place as
well as the weak response from the Governor House and the Sindh government may result in the loss of the building, thus depriving
more than 20,000 students of education, it is feared. Mr. Hussain told The News that their position has been weakened by a
particular group of people who were supporting Mrs. Afroze Shah and her group who claims to be an IET trustee.
“Shah
is hatching a conspiracy to undo our efforts for saving the building from being taken away from the students,” he said.
“The AG Sindh has favoured Afroze Shah by granting her the permission to file a civil suit against us. The AG Sindh
office refused to grant us permission to file a civil suit against Mrs. Shah. This suit could have helped resolve the matter.”
Mr.
Hussain further said that despite being instructed by President Zardari, the provincial chief secretary was making no efforts
to resolve the matter. He said that the IET was the owner of the Government
Islamia College Complex
Building.
The IET has no objection if the Sindh government takes
over the building, as long as the Sindh government may pays dues to the IET, Mr. Hussain said, adding that the money would
be distributed among deserving students for scholarships and other welfare projects.
He said he had met the Sindh governor
on October 29 last year along with IET founder trustee Mumtaz Muzakkir. He maintained that they were willing to help the Sindh
government in saving the educational institutions situated within the building. The Sindh education minister was supposed
to meet the heads of institutions situated in the building but he recently backed off. “We had to file a civil suit
under Section 92 of the CPC for which permission has to be granted by the AG Sindh to members of our trust. We had applied
for the required permission several times but every time it was turned down by the AG,” he said.
Mr. Hussain
expressed concern over the AG’s role, and said that the AG first refused to grant them permission in June 2008, then
in August and again in October 2008, while he had granted permission on January 23, 2008, to Afroze Shah and others from her
group even after they filed a civil suit (107 of 2008) in the Sindh High Court on January 10, 2008.
Mr. Hussain stressed
that the building in question could not be saved unless a civil suit was filed for the removal of Afroze Shah and others from
the IET. “The ill designs of Afroze Shah and her group could only be countered if they are judicially removed from the
IET,” he said. He also alleged that the current Official Assignee of Karachi has been in cahoots with Shah and her group.
Website:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=156673
The
News (Jang Group).
Islamia Science College principal transferred.
Karachi City Page,
Wednesday,
February 25, 2009
By our correspondent
The Sindh government has transferred Principal Islamia Science College Abdul
Mubeen Khan and directed him to report to the Education and Literacy Department.
The Sindh Professors and Lecturers
Association (SPLA), a representative body of teachers of Sindh has expressed its reservation over the development which according
to them was part of the conspiracy against Islamia College Complex Building.
What makes the decision controversial is that Khan who served only for 10 months as principal of the college was on the forefront
in the struggle of teachers and students to save the Islamia
College Building from being
vacated.
Prof. Iftikhar Azmi of SPLA said that Khan was removed because he was active against the lobby which was trying
to grab the Islamia College
Complex Building. He said that
Khan remained active in the movement and was defending the college by frequently visiting the concerned court where the case
of Islamia College
Complex Building was in progress.
Khan was a qualified person and he was selected for the post after being interviewed and he also remained Vice-Principal of
the college. Azmi said that the SPLA would protest this decision of the Sindh Education Department.
Website:http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=164463
DAWN
19th
March, 2009, Karachi,
Page 18 Metropoltan.
SPLA Sees
Foul Play In Attorney’s Transfer.
By Our Staff
Reporter.
The Sindh
Professors and Lectures Association (SPLA) has criticized the Government of Sindh for transferring the district attorney (east),
Mr. Abdul Khaliq Nadeem, saying that the action would have a negative impact on the Government Islamia College Complex Building
Karachi execution and first rent appeal case.
A spokesman
for the SPLA, Prof. Iftikhar Azmi, said here on Wednesday that it was beyond one’s comprehension why a high ranking
attorney who was dealing with the Islamia College Complex Building Karachi case effectively had transferred at a time when
the case was to be heard in couple of days.
Suspecting
some foul play in the transfer move, he pointed out that the Government of Sindh had earlier transferred the principal of
the Islamia Science College Karachi, Prof. Abdul Mobin Khan, who was well-versed with execution and first rent appeal case.
And now, he added, it had transferred district east attorney Mr. Abdul Khaliq Nadeem, who was handling the execution and first
rent appeal case effectively.
Prof. Azmi
urged the Sindh Chief Secretary to withdraw the attorney’s transfer order in the larger interest of the student and
teachers of all the colleges and schools being run under the roof of the Government Islamia College Complex Building Karachi
as he had done in the case of the Government Islamia Science College principal.
The spokesman
apprehended that the attorney’s transfer would put the fate of over eighteen thousand students of the educational institution
functioning on the Government Islamia College Complex Building Karachi premises at stake.
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