PU’s Pakhtun students warn of abandoning studies

Committee formed to probe clash which left dozens injured on Tuesday

LAHORE: Pakhtun Education Development Movement (PEDM) activists have vowed to abandon their studies if action is not taken against the culprits who sparked Tuesday’s clashes at Punjab University.

As the situation on campus remained tense on Wednesday, PEDM students said they would not only leave the varsity, but the province altogether.

The students called on authorities to immediately arrest the individuals who attacked Nowroz celebrations during Pakhtun Culture Day.

The day began with a large presence of police contingents present on campus to maintain law and order, whereas students of the PEDM held a sit-in outside the Sociology Department.

They demanded that those involved in the attack and identified by Pakhtun students should be immediately arrested. The participants warned of a rally, but were pacified by the police and university administration.

The PEDM, after negotiations that lasted four hours, announced a news conference later in the evening at the Lahore Press Club. Talking to The Express Tribune, Jaffar Khan, a representative of the PEDM, said the students had reached the unfortunate conclusion that the Punjab University administration and provincial government could not provide security to students. “We are regularly attacked by the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) and the culprits are never apprehended by authorities,” he bemoaned. “We are around 700-800 students at the Punjab University and we will abandon our studies and leave Punjab if action is not taken against the attackers this time.”

The students belonging to PEDM also alleged that the culprits identified by them were not being arrested.

Meanwhile, a fact finding committee was formed by the Punjab Minister for Higher Education Raza Ali Gillani and it was given 10 days to report its findings.  The committee will be chaired by Punjab Higher Education Department special secretary, while the PU vice chancellor will be the co-chair.  Other members include DIG Dr Haider Ashraf, Iqbal Town SP Umar Farooq, PU Hall council chairman, PU Directorate of Students Affairs director, PU chief security officer and PU resident officer-I.

The Punjab University also announced it will closed on Friday March 24, while March 23 was also declared a holiday.

The IJT, meanwhile, held its own protest against an alleged attack on its women at the varsity on the same day. The protesters demanded that those who assaulted the women students them should be punished The allegations were denied by PEDM.

The IJT spokesman said the police only arrested IJT activists, while those who attacked them were not being apprehended.

A case has been registered by the Muslim Town Police against unidentified miscreants and the cops had rounded up 22 from hostels suspects on Tuesday.

Talking to The Express Tribune, DIG Dr Haider Ashraf said that police was investigating those arrested by going through the CCTV footage. He said the culprits would be identified through this process and further investigations would be conducted. He added security had been beefed up at PU and no outsider was being allowed in.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2017.