Campus violence: Eleven students injured at Urdu university clashes

Members of Pakhtun and Seraiki groups brawled over student’s harassment

ISLAMABAD:

Police on Tuesday arrested over a dozen students of the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST) after clashes erupted between student unions over a female student’s alleged harassment by a particular group.

Police officials and varsity students said around a dozen students were injured when members of the Pakhtun Students Federation (PSF) and Seraiki Student Federation (SSF) brawled after a PSF member allegedly harassed a female MBA student.

The police said the harassment incident occurred three days ago and had been boiling over.

According to a student, on June 5, one student belonging to PSF allegedly harassed a female student whose friend, who belongs to SSF, stopped him which led to a fight.

The PSF student on Tuesday arrived with complete planning and a weapon to take ‘revenge’ and managed to flee from the scene after starting the brawl.

Muhammad Iqbal, a law student of the university, who is also an eyewitness, told The Express Tribune that at around 3:30pm he was taking his class when suddenly one group started firing which resulted in a clash between the two groups that left almost a dozen students injured.

Dr Muhammad Imtiaz of Federal Government Services Hospital said 11 students were brought in with minors injuries. They were discharged after treatment. One mechanic who was also injured was shifted to PIMS.

“It is the failure of the university administration which did not bother to inform police about the issue which was continuing for the last three days,” said another student, who requested anonymity.

Sources said Aabpara police arrested SSF-associated students from the hospital premises instead of arresting PSF members who opened fire on them. The officials said PSF, led by Jawad Khan, is a strong student organisation and is backed by the Awami National Party. He added that ANP lawmakers often visit the campus in various programmes organised by PSF.

Javed Awan, investigation officer of the case, however denied that the fight began over a female student. He said FUUAST has administrative issues between its present and previous regime. The officer claimed the previous administration used student unions against the existing regime and the issue is going on since a year.

Salman Muhammad, the campus in-charge of the university, said he was in the President House when the incident took place. However, he blamed the previous administration for ‘trying to create unrest in the university’. He claimed that the previous administration was trying to occupy the campus by using the students as a tool.

When asked why the varsity did not inform police when tension was brewing between the two groups, he said it is the responsibility of police to check such activities.

Aabpara SHO Abdur Rehman was not available for comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2015.