BAHAWALPUR: According to Express television, the additional session judge Abdur Rehman Bodla has ordered for a case to be filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act against Quaid-e-Azam Medical College (QMC) principal Ejaz Shah, the district police officer (DPO), district superintendent police (DSP) and 356 police officials for harassing college students.
Advocate Sarfaraz Ahmed, the QMC student’s lawyer, has said that the court has already asked for cases to be registered against the college principal, DPO, DSP and other police officials, however, the college administration insists that the courts has only ordered the station house officer (SHO) to launch an inquiry into the matter.
High Court advocate and former senior superintendent police (SSP) Muhammad Safaraz, Rana Zeeshan Ali and Syed Adnan Wajid Bokhar spoke to the media during a press conference on Saturday and said that the QMC students’ lawyer Sarfaraz Ahmed had announced that the court had ordered for a case to be filed against the police officials involved in harassing students as well as the college principal.
They said that college students had filed an application and that the students had shown the court torture footage captured by their cell phones that implicated the police. “The video left little room for doubt as the police could clearly be seen beating up students for carrying out a peaceful protest,” Syed Adnan Wajid Bokar said.
Raza Zeeshan said that the police had entered the girls’ hostels and had misbehaved with female students. “They snatched the girls’ mobiles and also took money from their purses,” Zeeshan said, adding “it was despicable to see law enforcement officers harassing young girls by snatching their dupattas. This was all caught on video so there is no room for conjecture,” he said.
Meanwhile, QMC students continue to protest for the resignation of the college principal for the tenth consecutive day. Students boycotted a forced examination, saying that the administration had entered the hostel to force them to sit their exam but the students had closed their rooms and boycotted the exam.
The protestors said their protest would continue until the removal of the college principal.
The students said that if the principal was not removed then the students across the province would take to the streets and march towards the Chief Minister’s Secretariat in Lahore.
Meanwhile, on Friday the committee formed by the chief minister visited the QMC and the chairperson Gen Ziauddin showed grief over the miserable condition of the hostels. He assured the students that their problems would be resolved and that he would inform the chief minister of the state of the hostels. “The principal has never bothered to visit these hostels and it seems he cares little for the students’ plight. This is what I will tell the chief minister,” he said. He added that he had spoken to the SE WAPDA regarding constant power cuts in the hostels and had been told that the college administration had never raised the issue with him.
“I don’t know what it would have to take for us to prove that this school administration is working against us,” said QMC student Ammar. “Students have been arrested, flogged and charged with terrorism simply because we were protesting for lower fees and less power cuts,” he said. “It is the administration that should be charged with terrorism,” he added.
The medical examination of students conducted in line with the court orders proves torture. QMC students had recently filed a petition in the additional and session judge’s court against the college principal and police officials and on Saturday the court declared the DPO, college principal and 200 police officials accused in the case. The court also ordered for the release of all arrested students.
QMC principal has categorically denied reports of any case having been filed against him or the DSP. “There has been no case, I was not called in for cross questioning and I have not been implicated,” Ejaz Shah said.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has gifted two generators of 300KV each to the college, to help overcome the power problem on campus and provide better facilities to medical students.
Advisor to the Punjab chief minister, Mian Baleeghur Rehman (MNA) and the provincial parliamentary secretary Chaudhry Mumtaz Jajja (MPA) handed over the generators to the principal Ejaz Shah on Saturday afternoon.
Administration officials have said that one of the generators for the girls’ hostels has already been installed.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2010.
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