Treason FIR against Sindh University students draws ire

Peers demand for case to be withdrawn, student unions restored

HYDERABAD: The reaction to charging 17 students of Sindh University in a treason FIR continue to appear as informal student unions take to protests to vent their frustration at the varsity's administration and Jamshoro Police.

Dozens of students led by social activist Sindhu Nawaz Ghangro held a demonstration outside Hyderabad Press Club on Saturday demanding that the police should quash the FIR.

"The students were protesting peacefully to complain about the missing facilities in hostels but they have been charged with treason against the state," deplored Ghangro, condemning the police action.

Jamshoro Police nominated 13 students on November 19 by name besides four unidentified students in an FIR lodged on the state's complaint.

Police register ‘sedition’ case against protesting Sindh University students

The students were booked under Sections 120-A, 120-B, 123-A, 124 and 153 of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Inspector Abdul Qadir Panhwar, who is in-charge of campus security. They have been charged with chanting anti-Pakistan slogans during a recent protest at the main entrance of Sindh University and for carrying out wall chalkings with similar slogans.

"Such oppressive acts amount to precluding the students from enrolling in universities for higher education," contended Ghangro. She called for the restoration of student unions in universities and the lifting of the decades-long ban on unions. "The ban is increasing the problems rather than resolving them," she maintained.

The protesters said that if the government did not act immediately to lift the ban on student unions, the students will widen their protests across the province.

Meanwhile, Aneel Hub-e-Ali of Sindh Students Ittehad, at a separate protest, blamed the varsity for instigating the police to lodge the FIR because the students had held a protest against water shortage and lack of filtration facilities in the hostels. "Instead of addressing the water issues, the varsity got an FIR registered against the students under charges of treason," he said.

Students demanding basic facilities thrashed by police

A protestor, Sarmad Siyal, pointed out that the police and the varsity's authorities were setting a new trend of violent oppression of students.

He recalled the October 31, 2019 baton charge and teargas shelling on the students in Nawabshah. At least seven students were injured and admitted to the hospital after the police's onslaught on students of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Nawabshah. Those students were also protesting against the shortage of facilities in hostels.

The Sindh University has been trying to distance itself from the police case. The police cited Hostel Provost Shahabuddin Mughal and Security Officer Qamar Lashari who pointed out the students who were later nominated in the FIR. The varsity has removed Lashari from his position without officially citing the FIR matter as the reason.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2019.