Violence on campuses : Universities black day
Violence on campuses: Universities observe black day
Lahore, Apr 13: All universities in the country observed a black day
on Monday to protest against a life attempt on Punjab University
professor Iftikhar Husain Baloch as well as incidents of violence in
Islamia University Bahawalpur; National University of Modern Languages,
Islamabad; Government College University, Faisalabad; and Kohat
University, Kohat. On the call given by Federation of All
Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Associations (FAPUASA) President
Prof Dr Mahr Saeed Akhtar, teachers wearing black gowns, displaying
black ribbons and badges and carrying placards and banners inscribed
with anti-IJT slogans staged protest rallies in their respective
cities. The Punjab University Academic Staff Association (PUASA) also staged a protest rally in front of the Lahore Press Club. Speaking
on the occasion, Prof Akhtar, who is also PUASA president, and PUASA
general-secretary Javed Samee expressed their satisfaction over the
fact that three out of four suspects nominated in Prof Baloch's case
had been arrested while the father of the fourth suspect had also been
apprehended. Resultantly, they said, the one-item agenda of the ASA for
the arrest of the miscreants, who had attacked the professor, stood
fulfilled to a great extent. The ASA office-bearers expressed
the hope that the remaining accomplices of the main accused would also
be nabbed at the earliest. They resolved that they would not rest until
the respect and honour of the teaching community was restored and the
culprits, who had ruined the academic peace and good reputation of the
oldest and the largest seat of higher learning of the country, were
taken to task. The PUASA would now hold its general body
meeting at PU's Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology on
Tuesday (today) at 10am and later the participants would leave for PU
Old Campus where they would bring out a protest rally at 11am. The
teachers will march from Old Campus to the Chairing Cross. GCU
FACULTY: The Government College University, Lahore faculty members and
administrative staff have also condemned the assault on Prof Baloch. They
demanded an immediate action against those who carried out the attack
and said that such events sabotaged the peaceful environment of
educational institutions. Dawn
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"Our educationists have had to embark on a critical cause of reclaiming the higher education institutions from goons, thugs, and religiously-politically motivated mafias masquerading as student organisations. The Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba (IJT), the student wing of the Jamaat-i-Islami, has held the Punjab University (PU) and other colleges in Lahore in their iron grip through terror for the last 36 years. In an encouraging move to resist this continuing regime of violence on campus perpetrated by the IJT, teachers participated in countrywide protests marking a 'black day' on an appeal from the Federation of All Pakistan Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) to categorically condemn IJT's culture of savagery. The faculty seems to have finally run out of patience after the IJT's attack on the chairperson of the PU disciplinary committee, Professor Iftikhar Hussain, who was beaten black and bloody by these goons the other day. It is the first time that teachers from 55 universities from across the country united to protest against the IJT. Before this, the university and college administrations were more or less silent spectators of the IJT activities. The IJT has enjoyed impunity for far too long. Educational institutions are meant for encouraging thinking and welcoming differences in opinion with tolerance, but the PU seems to have been held hostage by the politics of IJT, which has never failed to use violence and force to impose its own brand of Islam. The undisputed avowal of teachers and civil society actors to declare zero tolerance for the IJT shenanigans must send a strong message to the Punjab government that it is time for officials to take concrete measures to stop the violent threat to higher education posed by the IJT."
Name: arif
Email: arif.nizami@yahoo.com
City, Country: Lahore
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PU tells colleges to rein in IJT
Lahore: The Punjab University has warned the Govt College of
Science, Wahdat Road, and Govt Islamia College Civil Lines, of
cancellation of their affiliations if they failed to control their
students from becoming part of Islami Jamiat Talaba in agitation
against the university. It is learnt the warning letters were
issued by Punjab University (PU) Registrar Prof Dr Muhammad Naeem Khan
in the backdrop of Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) recent demo and
wall-chalking against the PU administration. Govt College of
Science, Wahdat Road and Govt Islamia College are strongholds of Islami
Jamiat Talaba (IJT) and are situated near the PU New Campus and Old
Campus, respectively. An official of the university, seeking anonymity,
said the IJT did not enjoy support of PU students in the protest
demonstrations against the varsity. He said, owing to proximity of both
the colleges, Jamiat, the student wing of Jamat-e-Islami (JI), managed
to gather scores of students for demonstrations against the university.
He said it was shameful on part of IJT that, despite being
involved in thrashing a faculty member of the PU, its activists were
protesting against the varsity administration. It is pertinent to
mention that PU teachers have been observing complete academic boycott
after some IJT activists thrashed and injured PU College of Earth &
Environmental Sciences (CEES) Principal Prof Dr Iftikhar Hussain Baloch
on the April 1st. The official said Govt College of Science
and Govt Islamia College had been "hijacked" by the IJT over the years,
adding the government should take measures to clean the institutes of
the Jamiat activists as well. PU Registrar Dr Naeem Khan
confirmed the issuance of warning notices to the two colleges, saying
the principals of both the institutes had been asked to identify those
involved in agitation and coordinate with police in this regard. Meanwhile,
in a press statement, Professors & Lecturers Forum president Prof
Dr Matloob Ahmad Rana and other office bearers have demanded the
government take notice of threats being received by many teachers of
Govt Islamia College Civil Lines. "The college administration
is bent on turning the college into Mansoora (JI headquarter)", the
statement reads. It added the central executive council of Professors
& Lecturers Forum (PLF) was held on Monday which condemned the PU
incident and demanded the government take stern action against those
responsible. The PU Academic Staff Association (PUASA) on
Monday also organized a protest demonstration against IJT outside
Lahore Press Club and demanded the government ensure arrest of those
involved in incident as soon as possible so that the academic
activities could resume at the university. On the call of
Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association
(FAPUASA) various institutes of higher learning across the country
observed a Black Day on Monday and condemned the April 1st incident.
The teachers also demanded the government take measures for ensuring
recovery of Kohat University's Vice Chancellor who was kidnapped a
couple of months ago. The PUASA also announced that the
association would hold its general body meeting at 10am in the
Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology on April 13, and
later the participants would leave for PU Old Campus in buses where
they would take out a huge protest rally at 11am which would culminate
at the Chairing Cross near the Punjab Assembly. Dozens of IJT
activists also held a demonstration outside the Press Club on Monday
and, condemning the incident, demanded the government take notice of
expulsion and rustication of students at the PU. Meanwhile, in a
press statement, the Government College University (GCU) Lahore faculty
members and administrative staff also strongly condemned the assault on
Punjab University professor Dr Iftikhar Hussain Baloch. They demanded
an immediate action against those who carried out the brutal attack.
They said such events sabotaged the peaceful environment of an
educational institution. The news
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10th Convocation of UoB on April 17
Quetta: Tenth Convocation of University of Balochistan would be
held on April 17. Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi who is also Chancellor of
University would be chief guest. Three hundred and fifty Girl and Boy students who have done their PhD,
M Phil and passed out other department would receive degrees at the
convocation. Rehearsal for the convocation would be held 4 pm April 16 at Gymnasium
hall. Ppi
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KMC to reopen on 17th
Peshawar: After the phase-wise reopening of University of Peshawar (UoP), NWFP Agricultural
University (AU) and Islamia College University (ICU), the management of
Khyber Medical College (KMC) Monday announced to resume academic
activities from April 17. The NWFP University of Engineering and
Technology (UET), according to sources, would reopen on April 19 after
a thorough review of the situation. Full-fledged educational activities
restarted in the UoP on Monday. It had reopened on Saturday but
attendance of students was thin on the first day. The Agricultural
University reopened on Monday. The UoP campus was closed down on March
20 for an indefinite period after the riots. The management banned all
students' groups and warned that the violators of the ban would be
expelled. The news
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