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Anti-IJT protest turns violent: ICS director manhandled
LAHORE, Nov 20, 2007: The Punjab University's anti-Jamiat students managed to
organise a relatively thin protest rally on Monday as most students opted to
stay away when the protesters focused more on ousting Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT)
from the campus instead of taking up larger national issues.
The charged
protesters broke main glass door of the Institute of Communication Studies
(ICS), besides manhandling its director Prof Dr Mugheesuddin Sheikh. They also
reportedly thrashed and injured a lecturer and seven employees of the
institute.
The uncalled for violent action by anti-Jamiat protesters was
strongly condemned by the university students, faculty and administration at
large. They said the protesters acted contrary to their cause and lost
sympathies they had gained during their two-day protest on Thursday and Friday
last.
The IJT activists again kept themselves off from the campus during
the protest.
Sources said that police had asked Jamiat not to hold a
parallel protest rally on Monday fearing a clash, while others believed the
university teachers had also played their role in keeping students off the
campus.
It is learnt that some university teachers persuaded students to
not to join the anti-Jamiat protesters and stay in their classes.
The
anti-Jamiat protesters began their rally from University Law College with almost
200 students at 9am and marched to Hailey College and then towards ICS and other
departments.
Chanting slogans against IJT, the protesters reached the ICS
main gate and tried to enter the institute. However, the institute employees
refused to let them enter as classes were going on. The protesters got
infuriated and started thumping and pushing the main door, eventually breaking
the thick glass to force their entry.
Right after, they started beating
institute employees until director Prof Sheikh came there and tried to rescue
them. As Prof Sheikh sought the identity of one of the protesters, a group of
charged students started dragging him outside the institute building. A lecturer
Muddassar Husain Shah, and some university employees, intervened and rescued
Prof Sheikh fro angry students. The protesters then severely thrashed and
injured lecturer Muddassar, sweeper Nasir Masih, Administration Officer Tanvir
Shah, driver Iqbal and office staff members Muhammad Ali, Musharraf, Nadeem and
Arshad.
Later, the protesters visited almost all departments but could
not gather more than 200 students and finally concluded the rally after a
protest meeting in front of vice-chancellor's office.
Talking to us they said university teachers had threatened the students with rustication and
did not let them join the protest.
However, different students at Law
College and other departments said that they themselves had opted out of
the protest rallies as they were not optimistic about the
outcome.
According to them, the protest campaign seemed to have been
`hijacked' by some other student organisations having sectarian and political
agendas and they had directed it against the IJT alone. "We will not let the Law
College become a platform for the campaign against IJT alone," a Law College
student said.
The students, requesting anonymity, claimed that Law
College student Samiullah and 45 others, who had resigned from IJT, had gone
underground after they received life threats from Jamiat activists.
The
anti-Jamiat protesters delivered fiery speeches in front of VC office, demanding
purging university of political, sectarian and ethnic organisations. There
should be a complete freedom for students to form curricular, co-curricular,
extra-curricular, social and cultural societies.
They demanded students'
representatives be elected on the basis of merit democratically at the level of
classrooms, departments and hostels. They also sought promotion of freedom of
speech, democratic culture, social consciousness and unbiased traditions on the
campus.
They also demanded that the university should make arrangements
to create academic environment of international standard.
An ICS student,
Ali Ahsan Warraich, announced the anti-Jamiat protesters would now hold rallies
twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays. He also said the students would observe
one-hour academic boycott - from 9am to 10am - on daily basis.
Speaking
to the protesters, PU vice-chancellor Prof Dr Arif Butt urged them to hold
protest in a peaceful manner. He said the students' demands would be discussed
in Deans' Committee meeting. Dawn
PU BSc Engg date sheet
Lahore: The Punjab University has
issued the date sheet of practical examination of BSc Engineering, third
professional, New Course, (sessional scheme), second annual, 2004. The exam will
start on November 20 (today) and conclude on Nov 24. The News
Your Comments
"Anti Jamiat students are nothing but just a drama by ISO . . . "
Name: Shoaib Saleem
Email: shoaib.saleem@gmail.com
City, Country: Karachi, Pakistan
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