Preparedness: ‘No security glitches detected at LUMS’

A former student says university has not made adequate security arrangements

LAHORE: The government has reviewed security arrangements at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and found no loopholes of the kind reported by an alumnus in a letter written to the chief minister.

Arif Jalil Piracha had written a 14-point letter on November 18 accusing the university management of not following the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the Home Department following a terrorist attack at Peshawar’s Army Public School (APS) in December last year.



Piracha said the management was not ensuring the safety of students and faculty in case of an attack at the LUMS.

He said CCTV cameras at the university did not cover the areas around the boundary wall.

He said security guards at the university were not “combat ready”.

“There is no-quick response protocol in place. There is also no designated point for assembly of students in case of an emergency,” he said. He claimed that the university did not have a proper emergency evacuation plan. He said he had shared his concerns with the university administration but it had not looked into the matter.

“I have written the letter in the interest of students and their teachers. The government has launched an inquiry into the matter,” Piracha had told The Express Tribune.

A law enforcement official privy to the matter said that following instructions from the Home Department, some teams had visited the LUMS to examine security arrangements. “The teams reported in their initial evaluation that adequate security arrangements were in place on the campus. A detailed report is being prepared,” said the official who did want to be named.



LUMS Vice Chancellor Sohail Naqvi said the LUMS Security Committee had taken up the concerns raised in the letter and found no loopholes in security arrangements. However, he said, the committee had recommended that evacuation drills be arranged on the campus at least once a semester. He said the committee had also recommended that vacant positions of security guards be filled promptly.

Naqvi said the committee was not happy with the language used in the letter. “It sees the letter as an attempt to defame the university.”

The vice chancellor said that following Piracha’s letter, a team from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had visited the LUMS on December 1 and expressed satisfaction with security arrangements.

He said another team, headed by the Cantt SP, had inspected security measures at the LUMS on December 2. “That team has, too, expressed satisfaction with the arrangements.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2015.