Uproar in Quaid-i-Azam varsity over shifting of hostel

Student activists lock down campus, confine VC to home

ISLAMABAD: An uproar was witnessed at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) when student activists protested against shifting to a new hostel building.

QAU hostels notorious for being dumping grounds of illegal arms and drugs remains in control of powerful student bodies which are junior wings of main stream political parties.

The campus of Pakistan’s largest university again turned into a battle ground after the administration tried to move students belonging to an organisation to the new hostel building.

The hooligans of the organisation shut down university’s main gate and threatened other students. The gate was reopened on police intervention which arrested two miscreants but released them after few hours owing to political pressure.

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A student organization attempted to make university hostage after the university administration issued orders to some students to shift to the new hostel building. As a reaction to this,  a bedlam within university premises occurred and the miscreants shut down the university’s main gate and started threatening other students.

A contingent of police was called immediately which ensured unlocking of the gate and arrested two miscreants but later, both suspects were released under political pressure.

The students condemned the incident and expressed that extremist elements deliberately created havoc to spoil the educational atmosphere in the university. They demanded the university administration take strict action against such elements instead of showing any kind of leniency.

In this regard, the university administration asserted that they would not let any group or party destroy the university’s environment. They expressed that miscreants tried to play with the future of students in which they could not succeed.

Further, the QAU Vice-Chancellor (VC) Dr Muhammad Ali also released his statement after the incident and said that they were trying their best to uphold peace and order in the university and was committed of maintaining an educational environment in the university.

On the accommodation issue, he said that female students would be provided with hostel accommodation facility and hoped that district administration would co-operate with them.

Faulty fixation

VC said that ordered male students were ordered to shift in the new hostel building as an alternative but they created an uproar.

VC said the university had remained under influence of students’ organizations with political backing. Dr. Ali recalled that some students were suspended in the past but restored due to political pressure exerted by MNAs and Senators. The student activists barred the VC from going to his office and confined him to his house, he said.

Dr. Ali disclosed that he had received information that the miscreants enjoyed support from some teachers too.

History of campus violence

In February 2018, a clash between two student groups at QAU had left around 11 students injured. The clash took place between students aligned to the Punjabi Council and Pashtoon Council just as final exams were going on.

The students freely fought each other with batons, iron rods and stones.

The showdown followed an earlier clash when members of Punjabi Council had beaten up some members of Pashtoon Council who were allegedly intoxicated. Previously, in January 2018, four students had allegedly smashed a gate to the girls’ hostel and entered the complex along with their car. They started acting inappropriately and even beat up a security guard and then left unchecked, informed one faculty member.

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In October 2017, nearly three weeks after some protesting students forced the Quaid-i-Azam University to close, police finally intervened to forcibly remove the last pocket of resistance from the campus on Monday morning and restore academic activities.

The action — which some termed as harsh with students, some teachers and activists accusing police of using unwarranted force — saw police pick over 60 students, mainly aligned with the Baloch Students Council, from their protest camps and shifted them to different police stations.

Following the police purge, the university finally opened for students and employees. However, classes were held partially.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2019.