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IJT and ISO students groups clash at KU
KARACHI, Mar 1(The News): The University of Karachi, on Wednesday, witnessed an ugly outbreak of
hostilities by marauding students groups. As a as result of this incident,
female students took refuge in the washrooms and teachers, instead of coming to
the aid of the students, shut themselves inside the safety of their rooms. By
the time the Rangers appeared on the scene, students had already sustained
injuries and property had been damaged.
The drama unfolded on the campus
after activists belonging to the Imamia Students Organisation (ISO) and Islami
Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) fought a pitched battle with one another on some issues
that are disputed by both the warring factions. Tension between the two
organisations was brewing for some days as the IJT was highly critical of the
ISO's ushering of outsiders in to the university, who proceeded to stay the
night in a house that belonged to a teacher. According to IJT, it had objected
to the entry and overnight stay of the outsiders because it was creating
uneasiness among some teachers. The uneasiness was compelled by a belief that
such elements were responsible for the spate of night time robberies and
muggings taking place on the campus. Some IJT students told the outsiders to
keep away from the campus. One Nauman Burney, an IJT activist, was ambushed and
beaten-up on the campus premises by activists belonging to the ISO, which
sparked-off the skirmishes between the two parties. The IJT had already talked
to the Vice Chancellor and expressed concern about the presence of the outsiders
on the campus. It was said that these elements were responsible for attacks on
students, which included IJT activists, and were also engaged in undesirable
activities.
The ISO had other story to tell in a press conference held at
the Karachi Press Club. According to Ali Naqvi, Divisional President of ISO, the
clash was a result of the conspiracy of some extremists and Jihadi organisations
that were trying to create rifts among the Ummah. It was a case of misguided
zeal by both the parties in which four activists of the ISO and eight from the
IJT were injured. According to him, such incidents had become a norm in the
month of Muharram and just before the Chehlum of Hazrat Hussain's martyrdom. He
warned the university administration and the IJT to take care that such
incidents do not occur in the future.
Raza Abedi, an activist of ISO, was
highly critical of the Rangers and accused them of inaction and of assuming a
partisan attitude during the clash. Talking to the News, he said that the
Rangers seemed unconcerned about the fighting between the students and acted in
a very lethargic manner.
The News also talked to students of the
Department of Mass Communication, who bore the brunt of ISO's rowdiness. One
Iffat (a pseudonym) said that she saw the ISO activists running about hurling
obscenities at their rivals while breaking tube lights and other fixtures in the
department. Most of the students, according to her, were highly charged-up and
were moving about in a frenzy. Another student, also witness to the fighting,
said that he was surprised by the ferocity of students belonging to ISO while
they rampaged through the Mass Communication department.
Prof Nasiruddin
Khan, the Student Advisor and Haider Abbas Rizvi, the Security Advisor, were
trying to pacify both the parties by moving to and fro between them, but
engagement and disengagement continued for a long time.
The University
administration termed the clash as a routine incident, and did not have much to
say about it. A spokesman in the PRO office said that the university will remain
open today (Thursday).
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