Join our Whatsapp channel

       KARACHI: Against the backdrop of a recent “attempt” to violate its property rights, the syndicate of Karachi University (KU) at a special session on Monday passed a unanimous resolution on getting the “occupied/encroached” land of the varsity vacated.

       The members of the syndicate also decided that the university would seek assistance from concerned government departments in this regard and hire an “experienced” legal firm to pursue cases in the court of law.

       The meeting, chaired by Vice Chancellor Dr Khalid Iraqi, decided to set up a five-member committee comprising syndicate members — former KU VC Prof Mohammad Qaiser, former Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Prof Solaha Rehman, KU financial officer Syed Jahanzeb and director legal Asif Mukhtar — to assist the legal firm.

       Other decisions taken in the meeting include the posting of patrolling staff.

       No precise data about encroached land was presented before special syndicate meeting, sources say

       In his remarks, VC Iraqi stated that it’s the first university syndicate meeting ever on the land issue, while vowing to protect “every inch of the university land”.

       However, sources regretted that neither precise data on encroachment and land occupation was presented in the meeting nor members questioned the “administrative wisdom” to hire a legal firm, given the fragile financial situation of the university.

       The decision, they said, indicated failure of the university’s legal department in protecting its land in the court of law.

       Dawn contacted multiple administrative officials and senior teachers about the encroached land data. While no response was received on the specific information, they all agreed that “a significant portion of the university land is either occupied or encroached upon”.

       They also shared that successive university administrations had dealt with this problem, but without much success.

       The sources said official documents showed that the university was allotted 1,279.04 acres spread over Deh Safooran, Dozen, Songal and Gujhro, under Scheme No. 33.

       According to these documents, the land was handed over to the KU Registrar on Nov 13, 1954. Three years later, the collector of Karachi confirmed the acquisition of land for the construction of the university.

       In 2009, the record’s verification was again carried out by revenue officials.

       The sources said many of these sites had been under litigation for a long time. This included the site where the Karachi Development Authority laid its claim and recently attempted to take it over. It had been under litigation since 1999.

       The sources said the encroachments/occupied areas mentioned in documents included the encroachments near Khatm-i-Nubawat Chowk (opposite Kaneez Fatima Society) and in front of the Sheikh Zayed centre and the Silver Jubilee Gate.

       A sports pavilion in front of the Staff Gate was also built on the university land.

       “For decades, the university has been struggling to protect its land. One major reason for its failure is the absence of trained and equipped security staff, apart from rampant malpractices within the ranks of university officials,” shared a senior teacher.

       The KU vice chancellor was not available for comments.

       Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2025