November 7, 2003	Friday	Ramazan 11, 1424

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PESHAWAR, Nov 6: The involvement of political parties into the academic affairs, through their student wings, and the weakest ever administration have brought the NWFP Agriculture University to the verge of collapse.

Teachers community said the political parties, which use students as cannon fodder to their political ends, were held responsible for the armed violence on the varsity campus. The recent armed clash between the two rival student organizations has exposed the role of political parties and the administration.

The varsity administration, whose own members had been hired on political considerations, has failed to have a control over the students.

The teaching staff, which could have played an effective role in such a situation, has not been guaranteed any sort of protection in the wake of mounting strife on the campus.

The Agriculture University has been closed for an indefinite period after the armed clash.

One student sustained serious bullet injuries when the workers of People’s and Pukhtun Students Federations clashed last week.

The victim is still under observation at the Intensive Care Unit of the Khyber Teaching Hospital.

Police arrested 19 students who were released on bail some three days back, officials said.

Information gathered by Dawn revealed that workers of People’s Students Federation (Sherpao group), Pukhtun Students Federation and Islami Jamiat Talba (IJT), who enjoy the blessing of their parent organizations, have plunged the university into an administrative crisis.

“Some 3,000 students and the varsity teaching staff are held hostage by these groups. The situation turned even worse after the incumbent vice-chancellor assumed charge,” an official said.

Teachers believed that the apologetic attitude of the VC had encouraged the activists of the three main student bodies to resort to violence. Beleaguered teachers are given threats on telephones and indigenous explosives are hurled on their houses, as police act as helpless onlookers.

The university administration also blamed the campus police for the prevailing lawlessness, saying that inefficiency on the part of the police force led to violence between student groups.

When approached, Vice-Chancellor Dr Iqbal Shah said that adequate precautionary measures would be adopted to maintain peaceful environment on the campus. He said that the administration would take action against the culprits involved in the incident.