Negotiations underway as interior minister directs legal action against protesters. PHOTO: FILE
The protesting students of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), led by a group of around 42 students who had been either expelled or rusticated for their part in on-campus violence in May, decided to return to the table after Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal directed the district management to take strict action against the students responsible for disrupting academic activities at the campus.
Iqbal’s directions came after Minister for Education Balighur Rehman asked him to intervene and resolve the issue. QAU officials on Wednesday had urged Rehman to ask the interior ministry to help end the student’s strike.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Iqbal directed the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration to take immediate legal action against the elements and restore educational activities in the university.
Later in the day, there were reports that around 2,000 police units were gearing up for an operation in the varsity along with Rangers and FC to tackle the protesters.
Varsity remains closed
Despite directives from a parliamentary panel, the QAU remained closed on Thursday morning. The varsity management tried to take the buses out of the bus stand early in the morning but the protesting students had deflated tyres of the buses.
“We could not open the university due to non-cooperation of the district management,” a QAU official told the media.
When asked about Vice-Chancellor Dr Javed Ashraf’s resignation, which the national assembly NA panel had suggested should the varsity fail to reopen on Thursday, the official said that it was not the appropriate solution.
Later in the evening, deans and senior officials of the varsity met with the VC in the chair. The committee, however, could not finalise any date regarding the reopening of the varsity.
Cancel semester
With the university closure entering the third week, faculty have warned that unless classes are restored immediately, they would probably have to cancel the entire semester.
“Unless the normal operation of QAU is restored, it is likely that the semester will have to be cancelled. New admissions will be delayed, causing great harm to the academic careers of all QAU students, as well as negatively impact the university’s research output,” warned members of the QAU Academic Staff Association in a media briefing at the National Press Club.
The teachers also raised questions on the lethargy of the varsity administration, the police and the district administration in resolving the crisis.
“Concerning the students’ protest, the role of ICT administration, police and QAU administration needs to be investigated. Why did the ICT administration act slowly? Did ICT administration receive a formal request from the QAU administration to end the protests? Why did the VC not follow the standard procedure – for example, closing the hostels and isolating the protesters – in such situations?”
Apart from requesting the political and security set up to intervene, the faculty demanded that the university’s syndicate and discipline committee take strict action against those involved in the current forced closure of the varsity, and those who had harassed and threatened faculty members.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 20th, 2017.
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