Student groups clash in Multan

‘I don’t know why the fight took place,’ the principal says.

MULTAN: Two student groups clashed at the Multan Engineering College.

According to the police officials, students from the electrical engineering department at the Multan Engineering College have been protesting for a week to garner affiliation with the Engineering council. Peoples Students Federation (PSF) workers recently attacked the protesters and beat them up with sticks.

Education officials and police said that the PSF workers had demanded that the engineering students end their protest and when they refused, the PSF workers began to beat them up with hockey sticks.

The university administration reached the spot after nearly two hours.

Akhtar Kalro, the Multan Engineering College principal, said that at the time when the incident had taken place he had been in Islamabad to get a letter from the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) announcing formal affiliation with the college. Kalro told the students about the latest development and they eventually called off their protests.

“I am unaware of the reason behind this clash,” he said. An investigation has also been ordered into the matter.

The university had written a letter to the Pakistan Engineering Council on July 7 seeking permission for two of the college departments to be given affiliation.

A delegation of the PEC will arrive in the city on December 20 to discuss the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2010.