Parliamentary committee blames UoP, campus police for 2018 clash

Report suggests enhancement of the present setup of police inside the University of Peshawar

PESHAWAR: A Special Parliamentary Committee of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday released its report investigating the October 4, 2018 incident at the University of Peshawar in which over a dozen students were injured in a clash with police on campus.



The committee in its report blamed the university administration and the campus police for mishandling the incident and therefore, recommended an inquiry against the UoP provost as the administrative in-charge and the then commandant of the University Peace Corps.

It said, “In the presence of the University Peace Corps (Police Department) in the campus, there is no need for assigning the task of security to private contractors. Therefore, it is recommended that all security companies or organisations on a contract basis may be disbanded” while the post of the chief security officer may also be abolished.

The report asked to enhance the present setup of police inside the University of Peshawar.

“An officer of Grade-20 may be posted as provost of the university. Generally, all the junior officers working on senior posts may be removed and expatriated to their own organizational posts. The principle of the right person for the right job may be followed in all the appointments.”

According to the committee, “the university administration may be directed and sensitized to handle students issues in a more sensitive, hands-on and involved approach.”

The members of the probing committee appreciated the lawful action of evicting illegal occupants from the hostels of the university but also suggested to fix the matter of illegal occupants.



The special parliamentary committee advised, “The matter of the increase in fees may be thoroughly inquired through the Provincial Inspection Team and Higher Education Department.”

It also called to withdraw First Information Reports (FIR) lodged against genuine students and insisted “FIRs should be the last unavoidable resort and should not be the first choice.”

The committee, while recommending the aforementioned actions along with others also wished to encourage the university administration in any of their honest efforts to improve the workings of the University of Peshawar.