Police mobile vans stand outside Islamia College in Karachi on Saturday, November 19 after the East additional district and sessions judge announced the decision to hand over Islamia College to the Islamic Education Trust by December 23. The court ordered District East DIG to submit a report and oversee the transfer of possession of the premises to the trust. PHOTO: ONLINE

Hundreds of students and teachers of the Islamia College placed their benches in the street alongside the side of the college and continue their classes under the open sky as they protested against a court order to seal the college building and hand over possession to a man claiming to be the owner of the land on which it has been built.

Two days ago on Saturday, police acted on court orders and had sealed the historic Islamia College in Karachi on court orders.

Students who had come to appear for their practical exams were left dumbfounded and angry at being evicted from their exam halls. They resisted the move and torched tyres to protest.

When the police charged at them with batons and fired tear gas to disperse them, the students pelted the police with rocks.

At least seven protesting students, some of whom were still wearing their college uniforms and had backpacks full of books, were arrested.

On Monday, the students opted for non-violent protests. They placed benches in the street and started their classes under the open sky.

Talking to SAMAA TV, a student asked that that the college was being sealed in the middle of the academic year.

“If the government bars us entering the college, how can we possibly continue our studies?”

He said that the court’s decision had put the future of hundreds of student’s at risk.

The student complained that the government too had failed to act adequately and has yet to provide them with alternate classrooms to continue their education.

He requested the government to provide the students with classrooms until the end of the academic year.

It is pertinent to mention here that Sindh College Education Secretary Abdul Aleem Lashari had argued that the land on which the college was built belongs to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and that they pay rent for it.

He added that a case has been pending in the high court on the matter, but a citizen, who has claimed ownership of the land and has been in litigation for the past 40 years, managed to obtain an order from the subordinate courts and has taken over the building.

Lashari added that four colleges and four schools operate in the building with a combined student strength of 7,000 students. He said that they will approach the relevant authorities to resolve the matter.