March 16, 2003	Sunday	Muharram 12, 1424

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MUZAFFARABAD, March 15: An alliance of AJK University’s students on Saturday charged the varsity administration with serious infringement of the rules and regulations for their personal benefits but simultaneously subjecting the students to “unjust penalties” in the name of implementation of rules.

Speaking at a news conference on the varsity premises, leaders of the United Students Front, including Shujaat Kazmi, Raja Faisal Azad, Faisal Mir, Shahid Kazmi, Mudassir Mughal and others, alleged that “a certain lobby, holding key posts in the varsity, was committing corruption without any fear of accountability.”

The AJKU students are observing a strike since March 5 to express solidarity with the 16 students who were not allowed by the varsity administration to sit in the ongoing LLB exam for not fulfilling the required attendance.

The student leaders said that the administration had also expelled five students and served notices to many for instigating the student community for the strike besides committing some other offences.

The AJKU registrar had registered cases against six students under the same charges, however, all of them obtained bail before arrest on Saturday, the USF leaders told the reporters.

They pointed out what they said were undue promotions of the registrar, deputy registrar, controller examinations and a number of other varsity officials “for being the blue-eyed boys of the vice-chancellor”.

Only recently, the VC spent Rs144,000 on the repair of his official car, and soon after that bought it at depreciation price of Rs256,000 but, so far he had deposited only Rs122,000 in the government kitty, they said.

Of late, the VC also withdrew paper-tampering case against his son and two others, who were booked along with 38 other students of the Engineering College, Mirpur, they said, adding that the VC had also given admission to two girls in the Department of English in sheer violation of migration rules only because they belonged to bureaucrat families.

“Is it not ironical that there are different rules for the children of bureaucrats and for the children of commoners, like us?” they questioned.

They leaders said that the admission forms of 16 students were withheld by the department on the pretext of low attendance but in fact it was done to punish them. “The attendance rule exists since long but it has been applied only to us, because we have been unearthing the financial and administrative irregularities in the institution and calling for rectification.”

Shujaat Kazmi told reporters that he was arrested and tortured by the police in October last year due to his active role for students’ rights.

He said that he could not attend the classes for six weeks and although he showed the whole medical record to the varsity administration, but they did not accept his pleas.

Mr Kazmi, who is among the five students expelled by the university, had to leave the place to escape arrest, as a magistrate accompanied with some police personnel arrived on the scene for the purpose.

The USF leaders asked the university administration not to victimize their colleagues, as it would destroy their future. “Getting education is right of every citizen and the university administration is bent upon depriving us of the same right,” they said, asking the AJK president and AJKU chancellor to intervene to save their educational career.

The chancellor should also take bold steps to save this highest seat of learning from further deterioration, the added.

The USF leaders alleged that the university administration had hatched a conspiracy to confront the students with the police and district administration “in a bid to divert the attention from its misdeeds”.

“We do not want to confront with the police or district administration. But we request them not to believe what the university administration is propagating against us to achieve its ulterior motives.”

The USF leaders announced that the student community would hold demonstrations across Azad Kashmir on Monday to protest against the attitude of the AJKU administration.