The VC had set up a five-member inquiry committee to question the nominated students. PHOTO: FILE
Five students at the Bahauddin Zakariya University were arrested on Monday for protesting against the vice chancellor for expelling 30 students the day before.
Ijaz Bashir, the BZU public relations officer, told The Express Tribune that the students had been expelled for firing on the university premises and starting scuffles that had resulted in several students getting injured. He said several incidents had been reported against the students in the past few months.
These included the brawl between members of the Peoples Student Federation, the student wing of the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Jamiat Talba Islam, the student wing of the Jamiat Ulema Pakistan; the scuffle in Hamza Hall and firing in DVM Department and Usman Hall.
On Monday, a number of students had gathered in front of the administration block.
They shouted slogans against the VC and some of them threatened to damage university property if they were not taken back into the university.
Police were called. According to Bashir, it took the university administration and the police 10 hours “to free the premises of outsiders”.
Five of the protesting students were arrested for trying to enter the administrating block.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Bashir said that Vice Chancellor Dr Khwaja Alqama had set up a five-member inquiry committee to question the nominated students. The committee, he said, had found the students guilty of involvement in militant activities and were thus expelled from the university.
The PRO said that the disciplinary committee— comprising Dr Bashir Chaudhry, Dr Farooq, Dr Saeedur Rehman, Dr Amaanullah and Dr Muhammad Ijaz— has also fined the students (Rs10,000 each) and banned their entry into the university. He said the university administration had issued a general statement to the students warning of immediate actions against those involved in militant activities. He said 10 students had been given a warning.
More than 30 of the students, expelled and given warning, belong to the PSF and the rest to JTI. Most of the students belong to the engineering department.
With the recent rustication, the number of Bahauddin Zakariya University students expelled on similar charges over the last five years has reached 100.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2013.
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