Law enforcement agencies plan to collect data of university students

Authorities at varsities decide to cooperate with security agencies

KARACHI: After failing to comb the data of seminaries students, law enforcement agencies are now planning to comb the data of student enrolled in the city's universities. But according to insiders, they have yet to develop some mechanism and strategy to implement such a plan, The Express Tribune learnt.

Amid growing concerns about young individuals' involvement in militancy and terrorism, the authorities of the University of Karachi (KU) have reportedly decided to cooperate with the national security agencies. In this regard, some decisions were taken at an emergency meeting held at KU on Tuesday which was chaired by Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Muhammad Ajmal Khan.

Similar meetings were also held in other varsities including NED University of Engineering and Technology and Dawood University of Engineering and Technology (DUET). The varsities' administrations have decided to enhance security checks and increase the number of closed-circuit television cameras on the entrance and exit gates of the campuses.

It was learnt that the meetings also decided that the records of students would be scrutinised and a compulsory 'character certificate' would now be required from students seeking admission in the universities.



However, a KU spokesperson clarified that, "We have only decided to cooperate with the intelligence and law enforcement agencies and we will help them whenever they approach us," said KU spokesperson.

There are number of varsities in Karachi, particularly in private sector, having enrolment of thousands of students.  " At KU alone 33, 000 students visit daily so how would it be possible to monitor all of them at one time, having a security staff  of 130 members and one wing of the Rangers?," asked KU's  security officer.

"It is the duty of the security agencies to develop a mechanism. The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) had a meeting with VCs of universities a couple of months ago on the same issue but they seemed to have failed to develop any mechanism."

CTD officials said that they are working on some mechanism. "We have shortage of staff and with that manpower we cannot monitor everyone," said a senior CTD official. "We can only work on case to case basis as we had done in the past."



Law enforcement agencies are still looking for Sarosh Siddiqui, a KU student and alleged commander of a terrorist group Ansarul Shariah Pakistan, who is the suspect behind the attack on Khawaja Izharul Hassan, the opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly.

Not only Sarosh Siddiqui, but one of the attackers, Ahsan Israr, was killed in an alleged encounter with the police shortly after he was trying to escape after attacking the opposition leader. He was also highly qualified, having a PhD degree and associated with a private engineering university as a professor.

This is not for the first time when highly qualified people have been found involved in terrorism and the gang involved in the Safoora Carnage was busted by the Counter-Terrorism Department in 2015. The gang comprised highly qualified members from the different varsities.

At least six militants inspired by the Islamic States (IS) shot dead 45 members of the Ismaili community aboard a community bus in Safoora Goth, on the outskirts of Karachi in May 2015.

The CTD also busted a group of facilitators of the Safoora Carnage in 2015, which were also highly qualified. Adil Masood Butt was a highly educated man who had graduated from Indiana University in the United States of America before completing an MBA from Fordham University.  He is a member of the board of governors of the College of Accounting and Management Sciences (CAMS) in Karachi, holding around 50% shares of the institution. A former engineer of the Pakistan International Airlines, Khalid Yousuf Bari, was also arrested by CTD over the facilitation charges.