Section 144 in Punjab as student protests spiral

The Punjab government closed all education institutions, including public and private sectors institutions on Friday (today), after student protests that started in Lahore earlier this week against the alleged rape of a student spread to other cities and towns of the province on Thursday.

According to an official notification, all public sector universities, colleges and schools in the Punjab would be close on Friday (today). Simultaneously, the universities in the province also postponed exams scheduled for Friday.

The government notification came as the student protests spread to many cities of the Punjab. Police and other the law-enforcement personnel had started a crackdown against those involved in the protests and hundreds of people were arrested for disturbing peace and damaging properties.

Protests erupted across campuses of a group of colleges in Lahore on Monday after reports of the rape of a girl student by a security guard. Students took to the social media to expose the alleged crime, leading to large-scale demonstrations.

Rescue 1122 confirmed that at least 27 students suffered injuries during the protests. A senior police officer in Lahore said a college security guard from Sargodha had been taken into custody for questioning, but the victim had not been identified.

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari had at that time said "no college girl" had reported any such incident to the police so far. And on Wednesday, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz dismissed claims of a rape case, stating that the incident was fabricated.

The alleged rape occurred on October 10, and speculation over it began to circulate on social media, the chief minister said, adding that the alleged victim had been hospitalised since October 2 due to a serious fall, which left her critically injured.

She explained that after the story went viral, an investigation was conducted, which took several days, and concluded that no such incident occurred. "False accusations were made on social media, creating an issue without any foundation."

On Thursday, the overall situation deteriorated in various cities of the Punjab, including Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi, where the protesting students burnt tyres and furniture and threw stones at vehicles at several places and disturbed the flow of traffic.

The protests compelled the Punjab School Education Department and the Punjab Higher Education Department to close the education institutions across the province, along with the postponement of all exams at the universities.

Some universities in the Lahore, including the Lahore College for Women University had already announced a three-day holidays. According to sources, the decision had been taken in view of the protests by the students.

Reports from other cities said that public and private universities, colleges and schools in Gujrat, Gujranwala, Jhelum, Mandi Bahauddin were closed on Thursday because of the continuing student protests. In Gujrat, one parson was reportedly killed a couple of day ago.

In Rawalpindi, Thursday was the first day of resumption of educational activities, which had been suspended for three days as a security measure for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in neighbouring Islamabad. The summit concluded on Wednesday.

According to eyewitnesses, a large number of students and protestors gathered outside different educational institutions in protest. The protesters burnt tyres and furniture while threw stones at vehicles at several places and disturbed the flow of traffic.

In response the police resorted to baton charge and tear gas shelling to disperse the violent mob. Officials said that there were "non-student elements" involved in the protests, who were among those arrested from the spots.

Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Hasan Waqar Cheema said talks were held with the students in the afternoon after which the protest ended. "The elements were involved in vandalism and damaging properties are being determined," Cheema told The Express Tribune.

The police said that more than 350 protesters had been rounded for disturbing peace. The Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO), Khalid Hamdani, formed six special teams for investigation, and another 12 special teams for the arrest of those involved in creating the law and order situation.

In Faisalabad, dozens of private college students blocked a road in Model Bazaar area. They also vandalised the car of a student. The police reached the spot and arrest five students. In Lahore, the police booked 38 people under the cybercrime laws for spreading fake news that led to the protests.

Earlier, the Punjab government imposed ban under Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) on protests and political activities. Because of the violent protests, a large number of students, residing in hostel in Lahore, had gone to their home towns.

"The Punjab government took a wise decision by closing the education institutions. Today, low attendance at the education institutions was recorded at the public sector schools," Allah Rakha Gujjar, president of the Punjab Teachers Union, said.

(WITH INPUT FROM OUR RAWALPINDI AND FAISALABAD CORRESPONDENTS)