17 students of Sindh University were falsely charged by the Jamshoro police with anti-state propaganda
ISLAMABAD: Recently 17 students of Sindh University were falsely charged by the Jamshoro police with anti-state propaganda. The charge was false and this alleged claim was an act of revenge by the university administration with the help of the police. Due to the lack of water in the hostels for about a week, students became agitated and sealed the main entrance gate of the boys’ hostel in an attempt to raise their voice so that their demands could be fulfilled. No one from administration came to solve the problem but instead the SHO of the Jamshoro police station reached there with his team. Even though the SHO was not a part of the administration, he threatened the students to stop their slogans of “We want Justice” and “Pani nahy cho bhala karbala karbala”. H also warned the students leading the protest openly that they would face trouble and would be responsible of their own deeds. Soon after, about 17 students were charged in a false police case by the SHO. Peaceful students who demanded their legal right to water were threatened and searched by the police in order to put them behind bars. The vice-chancellor, registrar and university administration claimed that they were not involved in lodging FIR against students and even they were not aware of this. The VC himself gave a statement that it is a matter between the police and students and no one had informed them before or after lodging an FIR against the peaceful students. My heart goes out to these students as I personally know them. They belong to middle-class families and their parents sent them to study for a bright future. But the university administration has started a trend that if students demand their legal right, they will be labelled as disloyal and anti-state. The university administration should stop their reprisal actions against students otherwise they will be responsible for long-term protests within campuses across Pakistan.
Ahsan Khushk
Published in The Express Tribune, November 30th, 2019.
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