The reported proposal of the Punjab Higher Education Commission to detach four major faculties from Bahauddin Zakariya University and merge them into separate universities in Multan is not merely an administrative decision; it is being viewed by many as a deeply painful and alarming attack on one of the strongest symbols of higher education in South Punjab. For thousands of students, parents, teachers, researchers, and graduates, Bahauddin Zakariya University is not just a university — it is a historic institution emotionally connected with the educational aspirations, struggles, and future of the people of the region. Any attempt to separate its most important and academically productive faculties may not only weaken the university structurally, but may also break the trust and confidence of an entire generation that considers BZU a beacon of hope, dignity, and opportunity in an economically neglected part of Pakistan. Such a move has therefore triggered serious academic, administrative, emotional, and regional concerns across South Punjab.

According to reports, the Faculties of Agriculture, Veterinary Sciences, and Food Sciences of Bahauddin Zakariya University are proposed to be merged into Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture, while the Faculty of Engineering is proposed to be shifted to Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering and Technology.
The justification reportedly presented by the Punjab Higher Education Commission is that universities located within short distances should not offer similar academic disciplines and therefore should be merged or reorganized. However, this logic appears dangerously simplistic and resembles the old saying of “putting the cart before the horse.”

Universities are not merely buildings distributing degrees; they are comprehensive intellectual ecosystems built over decades through academic culture, interdisciplinary collaboration, research infrastructure, alumni networks, and institutional identity. Bahauddin Zakariya University is not an ordinary institution. It is one of the oldest and most established public sector universities of South Punjab, serving thousands of students from underprivileged and remote areas. The faculties proposed for separation are among its strongest academic pillars and major contributors to research, admissions, revenue generation, and institutional prestige. Removing these faculties would severely weaken the university’s structure and identity.

The most alarming aspect of this proposal is that it appears to ignore the already fragile condition of Pakistan’s higher education sector. At a time when universities are facing severe financial crises, shrinking research budgets, faculty shortages, declining academic standards, and increasing unemployment among graduates, the focus should be on strengthening institutions rather than fragmenting them. Instead of investing in laboratories, research grants, faculty development, student scholarships, and innovation, energy is being consumed on administrative restructuring that may create more confusion than progress.

This move also raises a fundamental question: if different universities offering similar subjects within one city is considered a problem, then why is this principle not being applied uniformly across other major cities of Punjab and Pakistan? Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, and Islamabad host multiple universities offering overlapping disciplines, yet no such drastic restructuring is being proposed there. Why should South Punjab become the testing ground for such an experimental and potentially destructive policy?

The Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Food Sciences, and Faculty of Engineering are not isolated academic units. They are deeply connected with the broader academic and administrative framework of Bahauddin Zakariya University. Their separation may create complications in accreditation, faculty seniority, pension structures, ongoing research projects, student admissions, examination systems, and interdepartmental collaboration. Thousands of students and faculty members may face uncertainty regarding their academic future.

More importantly, the people of South Punjab have emotional and intellectual attachment with Bahauddin Zakariya University. For decades, the university has represented hope for students belonging to economically weak families who cannot afford expensive private institutions or migration to larger cities. Weakening such a historic institution in the name of administrative adjustment would be deeply unfortunate.

If the real objective is educational improvement, then the government must first honestly evaluate why Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture and Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering and Technology have not yet emerged as sufficiently strong, self-sustaining, and academically influential institutions despite state patronage and resources.

Destroying or weakening the established faculties of Bahauddin Zakariya University merely to artificially strengthen newer institutions would be an injustice to higher education in South Punjab. Institutions are not strengthened by dismantling successful universities and transferring their academic backbone elsewhere.

It is an admitted reality that politically motivated and artificially backed institutions rarely achieve lasting academic credibility or public trust.

History is full of failed experiments where governments attempted to impose administrative structures through political influence rather than academic merit, only to witness institutional decline, financial burden, weak research culture, and loss of public confidence. Strong universities are built gradually through intellectual excellence, academic freedom, competent leadership, and institutional stability — not through political engineering or by weakening already established and respected institutions like Bahauddin Zakariya University.

If these universities are still unable to survive independently or achieve the desired academic standards, then the government should honestly review their administrative model, governance, and performance instead of sacrificing the historic structure of Bahauddin Zakariya University. A failed policy should not be covered by weakening a successful institution. If an institution cannot attract academic excellence, research culture, student confidence, and intellectual relevance on its own merit, then serious questions arise regarding its long-term viability.

It would be deeply unfortunate if, instead of strengthening all universities equally, the authorities choose the easier path of transferring established departments, faculty strength, reputation, and infrastructure from one university to another merely to create an illusion of success. Such a move would not be educational reform; it would be academic displacement.

The people of South Punjab deserve strong universities built on merit, vision, and performance — not institutions surviving through the dismantling of another historic university.

The Punjab Government must understand that higher education reforms cannot succeed through politically motivated administrative experiments. Genuine educational reform requires consultation with academicians, vice chancellors, faculty bodies, students, researchers, and independent education experts. Any decision affecting the future of thousands of students and one of the largest universities of South Punjab must emerge from transparent academic debate rather than bureaucratic paperwork.

If this proposal is implemented without broader consultation and academic consensus, many in South Punjab may indeed remember that day as a “Black Day” for higher education in the region.

The need of the hour is not to dismantle established institutions, but to strengthen them through investment, merit, research, academic freedom, and long-term educational planning.
Those attempting to gain political approval through short-sighted decisions should at least avoid damaging the already struggling education sector of Punjab. Once academic institutions are weakened, rebuilding their lost reputation and intellectual strength may take decades.

Education is not a political experiment, nor are universities pieces on a chessboard to be shifted according to administrative convenience. Behind every department and every faculty are the dreams of thousands of students, the lifelong struggles of parents, the dedication of teachers, and the intellectual history of an entire region. The classrooms of Bahauddin Zakariya University are not merely academic halls; they are places where the children of farmers, labourers, shopkeepers, and middle-class families of South Punjab come with hope in their eyes and the desire to change their destiny through education.

If these historic academic foundations are weakened for political satisfaction or bureaucratic experimentation, future generations will not forgive those responsible. The pain of destroying an institution is far greater than the effort required to strengthen it. Nations rise through strong universities, research culture, and educational stability — not through fragmentation and uncertainty. At a time when the youth of Pakistan are already struggling with unemployment, inflation, hopelessness, and lack of opportunities, creating further instability in higher education may extinguish the last remaining light of hope for countless families of South Punjab.

The tragedy is that once educational institutions collapse, their buildings may remain standing, but their academic soul dies silently. Empty campuses, demoralized teachers, uncertain students, and shattered dreams become the painful reminders of short-sighted decisions.

Parents who spend their entire life savings to educate their children do not deserve to see the future of their sons and daughters sacrificed for administrative experiments or political point-scoring. The youth of South Punjab already suffer from deprivation, lack of opportunities, and educational inequality; weakening one of their strongest institutions may push an already frustrated generation further into hopelessness and despair.

History remembers those who build institutions with respect, but it also remembers those who silently allowed them to decline. Therefore, before taking any irreversible decision, policymakers must listen not only to files and summaries, but also to the voices, fears, and emotions of students, parents, teachers, and the people of South Punjab whose future remains connected with Bahauddin Zakariya University,Multan.

Dr Alamdar Hussain Malik
Advisor, Veterinary Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Swat
Former Financial Adviser, Finance Division, Government of Pakistan