Police books hundreds of students over UCP mayhem

Police in Punjab has registered a first information report (FIR) against University of Central Punjab (UCP) students a day after dozens of students were baton-charged and detained.

The students were protesting against the university's decision to conduct on-campus exams. Students were staging protests outside the campus for two days in favour of online exams, saying that their classes were also held online as the educational institutions remained closed due to coronavirus pandemic throughout the year.

At least 94 students have been nominated in the FIR and a few hundred have been declared unidentified in the case. The students will be presented in a local court by the police. 

The students have been charged under sections 452, 506b, 148, 149, 427, 342, 290, 291, 440, 436, 269 and 270.

Police identified the students through CCTV footage, social media posts and the electronic media. The investigation officer stated that as the protest had become a problem for the people in general, the university's administration had asked for the protesters to be dispersed. 

The officer added that the prime accused, Zubair Siddiqui, had incited the protesters to attack the UCP campus and was also responsible for stone-pelting and attacking the gates of the university. 

Hours after their protest on Tuesday, police launched a crackdown against the students to disperse them from outside the campus in the Johar Town area of the provincial capital.

A day earlier, students of University of Management and Technology (UMT) had staged a protest on the same issue. 

Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood, taking notice of the incident, had said he has asked the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to check out if the exams can be held online “given special circumstances”.

Students of Dera Ghazi Khan’s Ghazi University had also staged a protest demonstration for the second day on Tuesday, demanding to hold online examinations.

Earlier, a large number of students of various universities across Lahore had staged a demonstration outside the Governor House.

Similar protests are being organised in different cities across the country. Last week, #studentsrejectoncampusexams remained a top trend on Twitter.