Police operation against IJT at Punjab University
Police operation against 'IJT hooligans' fails
Lahore, Apr 05: The police operation against a group of the Islami Jamiat
Talaba (IJT) activists at the Punjab University's Hostel No 16 failed
on Sunday due to the late arrival of the police. The IJT activists were
involved in the recent violence at the university. According to
sources, PU Resident Officer (RO), Prof Shahid Gul, contacted the
Muslim Town DSP at around 2:40 pm to inform him about the presence of
wanted people. But the heavy police contingent reached the spot at
around 4:40 pm but by that time, the Jamiat activists had managed to
escape. A senior PU official said around 150 policemen had
arrived under the supervision of DSP Muhammad Naveed Irshad and SHO
Shoaib Khan to carry out the operation. He said the police thoroughly
searched the hostel "but it was too late". A senior PU faculty member, asking not to be named, said it was
ironic that the administration did not involve the universityís
security guards, which provided an opportunity to the miscreants to
escape. Meanwhile, a PU press statement said the police
officials concerned were informed about the presence of the IJT
activists at Hostel No 16 around 2:45 pm while the police party, headed
by DSP Muhammad Naveed Irshad and SHO Shoaib Khan, raided the hostel at
around 4:30 pm. "The wanted elements had succeeded in escaping
at around 4:20 pm due to which no arrests were made," it added. The
statement said the PU administration and the boarding students welcomed
the operation and expressed the hope that the close liaison between the
law enforcement agencies and the university authorities would continue
in the future as well and the police force would not rest until the
illegal occupants were flushed out of the varsity hostels. It
further said the long-awaited police action against the outside
elements in the PU had not only boosted the image of the police for the
faculty and students but it would also help speedy restoration of
peaceful academic and research atmosphere in the university. When
contacted, RO Shahid Gul said the administration had received
information that seven to nine IJT activists were present in Hostel No
16, adding that the information was passed on to the police. DSP
Muhammad Naveed Irshad said as six police reserves were involved, it
took around one-and-a-half hours to get ready for the operation. "I did
not have such a force at the police station and had to call the force
from the police lines," he added.
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IJT involved in acts of violence: Imran
Lahore: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has
criticised the federal and provincial governments for failing to take
action against the IJT despite proof of its involvement in acts of
violence at the Punjab University. Imran was talking to reporters after
visiting the residence of Prof Iftikhar Baloch, a PU teacher who was
attacked by the IJT activists. Imran said a handful of IJT
activists had hijacked the entire academic institution and culprits
behind the murder attempt on a teacher were still at large. He said the
IJT's involvement in acts of violence had been proven in the past.
Nothing was done against the IJT activists despite registration of FIR
against them, he added. Imran said the federal and provincial
governments were responsible for the attack on the PU teacher. He said
it was the duty of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Punjab Chief
Minister Shahbaz Sharif to ensure security of citizens. He urged the
Insaaf Students Federation (ISF) to continue playing its role in
ensuring a peaceful atmosphere at the PU. He said stern action
would be sought against any IJT activist found involved in any illegal
activity. He said a society that disrespected teachers never
progressed. He said the PTI would continue to register its
protest as long as the government did not take any concrete steps to
curb the activities of subversive elements at the PU. He urged the
federal and provincial governments to take immediate measures to bring
those responsible for the attack on the PU teacher to book. The news
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QAU staff slate PU students' hooliganism
Islamabad: The Academic Staff Association
(ASA) of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Islamabad has taken serious
note of the incident of hooliganism by Punjab University's (PU)
students against the PU's Principle College of Earth and Environmental
Sciences and PU's Discipline Committee Chairman Professor Dr Iftikhar
Baloch. ASA President Dr Aitzaz Ahmad and Secretary Dr Gulraiz
Akhter condemned the incident in strongest possible terms. They
demanded the Punjab governor and Punjab chief minister bring those
responsible to justice. The president said that if those
responsible were not immediately punished, he would summon an urgent
meeting of ASA' Executive Council to chalk out a strategy for the
future. Daily times
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Fairness in UHS exams in doubt amid strike
Lahore: The transparency in examination system under the
University of Health Sciences is being questioned ahead of various
supplementary and allied health sciences exams, scheduled to start on
Monday (today), as the staff deputed for conducting exams are on a
strike for an indefinite period, leaving the Examination Department
with little options to do the job effectively. It has been
learnt that MBBS third and final professional supplementary
examinations 2009, and various annual examinations of allied health
sciences of the candidates of the Institute of Public Health (IPH),
Lahore, will start from Monday (today) and BSc (Hons) examinations are
scheduled to start from Tuesday (tomorrow). On the other hand, the
entire non-gazetted staff, particularly of Examinations Department
including Conduct, Tabulations, Secrecy sections, are on strike for
regularisation. The ongoing strike of the universityís
non-gazetted staff had badly affected the official work of the
university. However, in order to cope with the extraordinary situation,
sources said, the UHS administration had provided reinforcement to the
Examinations Department by sparing staff from various departments of
the university as well as students of the allied health sciences and
MPhil classes for temporary support in conducting the examinations. It
has also affected studies and research work of students. The UHS
move has also raised serious doubts among various stakeholders
regarding the sanctity and secrecy of the examinations system in the
absence of experienced staff to conduct exams in a foolproof manner. It
is also learnt that the payments of internal and external examiners
were also pending due to the ongoing strike of employees. Meanwhile,
the non-gazetted employees of the UHS believed that university
administration had been planning to run over the livelihood of nearly
180 grade 1 to 15 employees, protesting for regularisation, and their
families after financially killing more than 270 employees since the
establishment of the UHS in October 2002. The UHS had issued a
final notice through an advertisement in newspapers whereby it warned
all non-gazetted employees to join their duties till April 3, 2010 or
face termination from service. The UHS issued fresh warning letters to
the employees for failing to join their duties till April 3, 2010,
after having already sent their contract letters at their residential
addresses. However, the UHS employees refused to accept the
renewed contract letters of the duration of five-year-and-six-months
and stood firm in their demand of regularisation of all non-gazetted
contract employees in compliance with the Punjab governmentís orders to
regularise all the contract employees from grade 1 to 15 in all
government institutions, thereby, abolishing the contract policy in the
province. They claimed that the UHS administration was trying to harass
them through various means as they were contacting their families to
force them to join their duties by accepting fresh extensions to their
contracts. "Various MNAs and MPAs have also put pressure on our parents
to force us to join duties," they alleged, adding that all the
employees were, however, determined to continue their protest till the
fulfillment of their demand. The UHS Board of Governors is expected to
take a decision to seal the fate of the employees on Monday (today) as
the deadline given to employees elapsed on April 3, 2010. UHS
Vice-Chancellor Prof Hussain Mubashar Malik, Controller of Examinations
Dr Junaid Sarfraz and other officials, despite holding public offices,
avoid to make themselves available for comments on the issues
pertaining to employeesí strike and examinations and suspension of
official work in the university. However, the UHS spokesman,
when contacted, said the ongoing strike of non-gazetted employees had
not affected the conduct of examinations as university had conducted
nine examinations during the last two weeks. He said that essential
staff of examinations, including controller of examinations, four
assistant controller of examinations, all female employees, were
performing their duties as usual. Besides, he said, 58 out of 171
non-gazetted employees, who were earlier on strike, had joined their
duties in the university. In view of the MBBS third and final
professional supplementary examinations 2009, scheduled to start on
Monday, the spokesman said that the UHS Examinations Department had
made all the necessary arrangements to conduct the exams smoothly, as
the already-prepared question papers had been dispatched to the
examinations centres all over the province. "The papers are neither
postponed so far nor will they be postponed in future as well," he
maintained. Meanwhile, the UHS employees continued their 24-hour hunger
strike on the third consecutive day in front of the Punjab Assembly on
Sunday, although they had started protest demonstration and partial
hunger strike on March 29 against universityís decision not to
regularise their services and closing the university gates on them. The
employees spent their night in the open on Sunday after bearing the
hardships of hunger and scorching sun on the third consecutive day just
outside the Khadim-e-Punjab Secretariat. The Punjab
governmentís top political hierarchy seems to be testing the UHS
employees nerves by giving them a cold shoulder in their struggle for
regularisation. The protestors regretted that none of the Punjab
governmentís representatives visited the UHS employees, protesting in a
state of hunger, to convince them to call off their hunger strike with
some kind of assurance regarding their demand of regularisation.
Khurram Jahangir Watoo, a PPP MNA from Okara, was a lone visitor to the
UHSís hunger strike camp so far, who had assured to knock all the
doors, including Governor/Chancellorís and the parliament, for
fulfillment of the protestorsí demand. Unfaltering in their
resolve against all odds, the UHS employees were not ready to bow and
they were ready for a befitting reply to the oppressive response from
the UHS administration and apathy of the provincial government. They
were holding banners and placards and shouting slogans against the UHS
administration. They announced to continue their strike till death for
fulfillment of their demand. The news
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BNU students upset about varsity decision
Lahore: Abrupt decisions by institutions without taking all stakeholders into
confidence eventually fall apart and this has exactly happened in case
of the Beaconhouse National University. The BNU administration
is facing massive protests by students against its Board of Governor's
'unilateral' decision of combining the School of Liberal Arts (SLA) and
the School of Social Sciences (SSS) under one dean. The SLA
students did not accept the merger and protested on varsity campus as
well as outside, saying the decision is neither wise nor feasible. The
students also displayed posters and placards demanding that they wanted
their SLA intact as they felt "they were in safe hands". There
are also reports that the BNU administration has removed SLA dean
Naveed Shahzad -- something the varsity administration denies by saying
she will continue to head the SLA under a dean looking after both SLA
and SSS after their merger. The protesters, however, suggested
that if the BoG wanted to merge the two schools, it should have merged
SLA with the School of Media and Communication which was offering
courses more relevant to their programme. They claim that the
SSS faculty members are not competent enough to teach the SLA syllabi.
The protesters also said the varsity administration should not have
taken such a hasty decision affecting three batches currently enrolled.
Respecting the contract between the students and the
university, they said, the BNU administration should have taken the
decision and advertised it in its prospectus for the new students. Some
varsity teachers have also endorsed the stance of the students. A
delegation of students has also submitted a charter of demands to the
administration and announced their commitment to oppose the merger. Now, the students say, they are awaiting the administration's response to their demands. BNU
Vice-Chancellor Sartaj Aziz said he had held a meeting with the faculty
of SLA and informed them that the merger proposal was still under
consideration and a final decision would be taken in the next few days
after a meeting of the BoG.
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IUB students continue protest
Bahawalpur: Students of the Islamia University engineering
college continued their protest for the second day on Saturday against
the varsity administration for taking action against students and the
former principal. They alleged that students of other
departments were involved in the Feb 19 violence, but the action was
taken against engineering class students. They threatened to boycott
the examination commencing from April 5 if their penalized students
were not restored and allowed to appear in the examination. The
IUB public relations office said former engineering college principal
Jan Keerio was creating a law and order situation by instigating a
group of 33 students.
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UVAS Spring Festival 2010
The University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences' Student Services Council last week
organised a weeklong "Spring Festival 2010" allowing students to
showcase their innovative skills and capabilities in various events. The
students enthusiastically participated in the English and Urdu
declamation contests. The winners were: Jawad Raza (Urdu humorous),
Ikram Ahmad (Urdu serious), Iqbal Ahmad (English humorous) and Hafsa
Sarwar (English serious). The UVAS Literary Society organised a
'mehfil-i-mushaira' and 'bait bazi' contest, where the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal Sciences Director Dr Muqarrab
Ali also recited his own poetry. Amir Saeed got first position
in poetry recital, Rana Adnan second and Hafiz Muhammad Rizwan bagged
third position. In 'bait bazi' contest, Muhammad Waseem clinched first
position and Ammara secured second position. The university students in collaboration with the Punjab Lok Rahs staged a Punjabi play titled wartiwapri (self-confidence). The
play depicted the repressive picture of social evils being rooted in
society causing further multiple glitches in the system of different
public service organisations and departments. It was staged
twice in a single day. The performers were: Zawad Raza, Shaffi Hussain,
Mudassir, Faiz, Iqbal, Rashid, Ayyub, Zohaib, Salman Taseer,
Zeeshan,Waqar, Sidra, Farzana, Maryam, Faisal, Salman, Abdullah, Inamul
Haq and Rameezur Rehman. On the concluding day of the festival, the UVAS students celebrated their firstever Fun Fair Day. Chief
Minister's Task Force on Administrative and Finance Efficiency chairman
Syed Farogh Naweed inaugurated the fun fair with Vice-Chancellor Prof
Dr Muhammad Nawaz. An overwhelming number of students and teachers
participated in the fun fair.
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GCU Art Festival
At the All-Pakistan
Performing Art Festival organised by the Government College
University's psychology department, students staged plays, mimes and
skits to highlight the scourge of terror that has struck the heart of
the Pakistani society due to suicide bombings and increasing rate of
crime. Students from eight educational institutions took part
in the festival organised as a part of four-day activities in
connection with the Mental Health Week. The play titled 'Cry of a
Child' by the students of the Centre for Social and Culture Studies,
Punjab University, won applause. The play highlighted the
effects of terrorism on the lives and behaviour of children. The play
"Teen Murday, Teen Kahanian" was also liked by the audience. It
showed that how innocent people are trapped and made terrorists through
religious, social and financial blackmailing. A team from the
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad presented a skit highlighting the
irresponsible attitude of the youth towards their life. The
Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi presented a mime to show the
sufferings and situations that drive people to become what they did not
want to be. The GCU students also presented a mime on the
theme of fall out of terrorism. It depicted depression and anxiety
among the survivors of terror attacks. They also staged a play
'Crime and Punishment'.The students of the Centre for Clinical
Psychology, Punjab University, also underlined the psychological and
social effects of terrorism through a mime. Dawn
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