Islamabad: Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) has formed a joint action committee demanding to start the anti-encroachment operation again, a news source reported. The committee has requested the government to restart efforts for clearing the university land.
According to sources, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) can’t restart the operation on their own. The said administrations are looking forward to the ministerial committee for giving the green light.
The QAU committee included the Academic Staff Association, Alumni Association, officers, and university employees. The attendees decided that they will continue efforts to protect the varsity’s rights. They have further demanded that the federal government take measures to preserve QAU’s sanctity. The institution’s land rights have suffered due to encroached land of over 298 acres. The university also suffers from funding shortages.
The attending officials informed that CDA had acquired over 1,700 acres of land for the University of Islamabad between 1967 and 1972 – now known as QAU. The university was handed legal claim over this land due to full payment.
CDA had submitted a report and minutes of a meeting to the Supreme Court (SC). These prove QUA’s legal claim over the said land. But a report by Survey of Pakistan in 2017 determined that QUA is short 152 acres. It means that the university only has 1,557 acres in possession. Even out of this figure, 298 acres of land remains encroached.
