Alvi for taking steps to stop harassment of Baloch students

President says all educational institutions must address their grievances

ISLAMABAD:

President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday directed the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the Vice-Chancellor of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) Islamabad to take necessary measures to stop incidents of harassment and racial profiling of Baloch students on university campuses.

The president passed these directions after hearing the grievances of Baloch students in compliance with the Islamabad High Court’s order.

The IHC had asked the president, who is also chancellor of the QAU, to ensure that the issues of Baloch students regarding ethnic profiling were probed and a report was submitted to the court.

The hearings were held at the President’s House and were attended by QAU Vice-Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ali, Additional Secretary Ministry of Interior Muhammad Ayub Chaudhary and advocate Imaan Zainab Hazir.

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The president said the country faced a unique situation and the resurgence of terrorist activities was a cause of concern. He said that counter-terrorism efforts were essential to peace and stability, however, he stressed that these needed to be carried out with utmost care and balance to not isolate or profile any segment of the population, particularly the students of Balochistan.

He also directed the VC QAU that in the case of students of Balochistan there was a general sense of deprivation or isolation, therefore, it was incumbent on all educational institutions to take more care to address such sentiments.

He said a proactive programme of activities and debates within the student community should be developed to address feelings of deprivation among Baloch students. He asked the QAU VC to diligently monitor any activity which may be a cause of concern to the Baloch students at the university and to verify the credentials of visitors in order to check the impersonification and maligning of law enforcement agencies.

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Earlier, the president had held hearings with Baloch students where it was informed that a Baloch student had disappeared from his home town in Balochistan after receiving a phone call from an unknown person who asked him to meet another unknown person, on the QAU campus.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2022.