LAHORE: The Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) Academic Staff Association (ASA) called for a complete boycott of classes and announced a sit-in from Tuesday (today) to press the vice chancellor to accept its demands.

It was holding a symbolic protest for a week. It had presented a list of 11 demands to the vice chancellor, which were not addressed till Monday.

In a press release, the association stated that faculty members had peacefully worn black armbands over the past week to record their protest while continuing their teaching duties but the administration completely ignored the teachers’ commitment and misinterpreted their peaceful approach as a sign of weakness.

In the ASA general body meeting held on Sept 3, a resolution containing 11 key demands was unanimously adopted and forwarded to the VC with a strict deadline of Sept 15 for implementation.

The ASA claimed that the administration has allowed this deadline to pass without taking any meaningful action.

The demands included the prolonged delay in convening selection boards for teacher promotions, with no advertisements issued in four years, and the controversial decision to increase teaching workload against the advice of faculty representatives.

The resolution also strongly condemned the creation of a new leave policy allegedly in violation of the University Act, and the attempted application of a new contributory pension scheme to already-serving employees.

The boycott and sit-in are expected to bring academic activities at the university to a halt, escalating pressure on the administration to address the faculty’s concerns.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2025