Giving ultimatums: IJT demands removal of Hazara University VC

Four students were injured in gunfire at a university funfair on Tuesday.

MANSEHRA:

Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing, Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT), has threatened to hold a protest if their demand for the removal of Hazara University (HU) Vice Chancellor (VC) Dr Sohail Shehzad is not met within the next three days.

On Tuesday, four students were injured when an HU security guard’s rifle accidentally went off during a scuffle with a non-HU student over an alleged fake ticket to a university funfair. Following the incident, the students took to the streets and blocked the Mansehra-Shinkiari Road for over two hours, forcing the administration to shut down the university for three days. The administration also constituted a departmental enquiry into the incident.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, student leaders Shakeel Nazim, Syed Naseer and Muhammad Mushtaq claimed they had demanded the HU administration to ‘avoid’ such gatherings when they heard of the funfair last week. However, the VC had gone ahead with the fair, which had resulted in the incident on Tuesday, contended the IJT activists.

Holding the VC personally responsible for the firing because of flawed administration, the IJT leaders said Aksar Shah was performing the duty of security guard when he was, in fact, a gardener and did not know now to handle weapons.

The students also demanded an FIR be lodged against policemen who resorted to baton charging and firing at the protesting students. While rejecting the official probe by the university administration, the student leaders threatened to begin their protest on Monday if their demand was not met.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2014.