Under threat: SU teacher survives armed attack in Jamshoro

Police register FIR, clueless about motive behind attack

HYDERABAD: A Sindh University (SU) professor survived an alleged armed attack in Jamshoro on Saturday, leaving the police with the investigation of a blind case of attempted murder. Two unknown assailants riding a motorcycle chased and stopped the car of Prof Dr Rafique Memon, director of the Institute of English Language and Literature (IELL), near Lunikot.

"One of them dismounted from the motorcycle and fired a shot at the car," Jamshoro SSP Irfan Bahadur told The Express Tribune. The bullet pierced the windscreen, dashboard and speedometer's cover and got stuck in the steering box, he added.

The SSP ruled out that the incident could be one of car snatching. "The car was stopped but they just fired a shot; they didn't try to snatch it," he said. The assailants, who escaped after the attack, could not be identified as they were wearing helmets.



The police, who have registered an FIR under Section 324 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on Prof Memon's complaint, are still clueless about motive behind the attack. However, Bahadur said the police will investigate the case from all angles.

Although Memon heads the IELL, which recently came into the spotlight due to a sexual harassment controversy, he was not among the three teachers who were implicated for the offence.

Prof Memon told The Express Tribune that he was travelling to Thatta, where he takes a class every Saturday at SU's Laar campus, in the morning. "Two persons on a motorcycle suddenly started following me. They were honking their horn constantly and gesturing for me to stop. I thought they were students and needed a lift. So, I stopped," he said.

According to Memon, one of the assailants dismounted from the motorcycle, took out his pistol and fired a gunshot at him. "I ducked to the right and they ran away," Memon said. The IELL director has not expressed suspicion over anyone's involvement in the attack.



On January 2, 2012, a retired professor, Bashir Channar, who was holding charge as the student affairs director, was shot dead while in his car in the SU premises in Jamshoro. In a similar attack, two assailants riding a motorcycle fired shots on his car and escaped.

The Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (Fapuasa) and Sindh University Teachers Association (Suta) have condemned the attack.

"[The attack] shows how security matters in general in and around universities are being handled," said Fapuasa General Secretary Dr Shakeel Farooqi. He pointed to a wave of violent and terrorising events which have been targeting universities in the country for last few years.

"... [such incidents] expose the inability of the law enforcement agencies to eradicate terrorism amid semi-political terrorist activities." He demanded security for the institutions of higher education as well as for Prof Memon.



Suta's President-elect Dr Arfana Mallah demanded a high level investigation. "This incident reflects the overall situation of security and safety of the faculty of SU, which is continuously facing one crisis after another," she said in a statement.

She was apprehensive that certain elements were creating unrest by sabotaging the academic atmosphere at SU. "It's not an isolated incident but a part of a series of acts through which the faculty is being targeted, threatened, harassed and demoralised," she said.

Officer bearers of Fapuasa and Suta have given the authorities 72 hours to arrest and expose the culprits involved in the attack on Prof Memon.