BZU Teachers and Students Protest Against Proposed Engineering Faculty Merger

Multan: A large number of teachers, officers, employees and students of Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), Multan, staged a protest demonstration against the proposed forced merger of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology.

The protest was held in front of the Dean’s Office, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, where participants carried banners and placards in support of protecting the identity, autonomy and academic quality of the faculty.

The protest was led by Dean Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Professor Engineer Dr. Tahir Sultan. Chairmen of various engineering departments also joined the demonstration, including Professor Dr. Mudassar Munir from Civil Engineering, Professor Dr. Abdul Sattar Malik from Electrical Engineering, Professor Dr. Imran Malik from Computer Engineering, Professor Dr. Tahir Qureshi from Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Samra Yousaf from Building and Architecture Engineering, Dr. Abdul Waqar from Textile Engineering and Dr. Waheed Ahmed from the Institute of Advanced Materials.

The Academic Staff Association, Officers Union and Staff Union BZU also announced full support for the protest. A large number of senior teachers, officers and employees participated and expressed concern over the proposed policy of the Punjab Higher Education Commission.

According to the protesters, the proposal seeks to merge BZU’s Faculty of Engineering and Technology with MNS University of Engineering and Technology, Multan. Speakers strongly rejected the proposal and said that BZU’s engineering faculty is a well-established and decades-old academic institution where more than seven engineering programs are successfully running.

They argued that merging a mature and functional faculty with a relatively new institution could damage academic standards and create uncertainty for students, teachers and employees. The speakers also suggested that instead of merging BZU’s engineering faculty into MNS-UET, the authorities should consider merging MNS-UET with BZU.

Protesters said the historic and strong faculties of BZU should not be sacrificed due to poor planning or administrative decisions. They demanded that the Punjab government and PHEC immediately withdraw the proposed merger policy and protect the future of students, teachers, officers and employees.

At the end of the protest, participants announced that if their concerns were not addressed, the protest movement would be expanded and their voice would be raised at every democratic and constitutional forum.