Kathmandu, March 1:

The Public Campus Teachers’ Association (PCTA) today organised a peaceful protest in front of the Ministry of Education at Kesharmahal, to pile pressure on the government to fulfil its demands.

The police arrested around two hundred campus teachers, members of the management committees of public campuses and campus chiefs who were participating in the protest programme, Bhola Nath Regmi, senior vice-president of PCTA told this daily today. The arrested were released later.

Regmi said that they were demanding for the establishment of a public university,

incorporating all the public campuses, and guaranteeing services and facilities to the campus teachers.

“We staged a sit-in in front of the main gate of the Ministry to prohibit its officials from entering the ministry. Though our protest programme was a peaceful one, the police manhandled us and arrested some our friends,” he said.

He also said the PCTA would halt educational activities in all Tribhuvan University campuses tomorrow and work by tying black ribbon on their arms for three days.

Expressing solidarity with PCTA’s protest, the Tribhuvan University Teachers’ Association (TUTA) has also appealed all the campuses across the nation to observe a pen down tomorrow.

“The act of manhandling the professors is offensive and we condemn it,” the TUTA said in a press statement issued today. It also urged the government to address demands put forth by the Public Campus Teachers Association.

The Nepali Congress has also condemned the police action on campus teachers’ protest. Issuing a press statement here today, the NC urged the government to find a solution to the problem through talks.