PESHAWAR, Jan 29: The University of Peshawar has uprooted the lawn of a student's cafeteria and got registered FIRs against six students for allegedly disrupting the environment of the campus.

The administration alleged that the students who gathered and sat in front of the Student Teacher Centre (STC) lawn called Gardina indulged in political activities whereas the university administration run under Vice-Chancellor Lt-Gen Mumtaz Gul had banned political activities inside the campus.

Sources said that the administration removed chairs from the lawn and completely destroyed it so that no student could sit there. The administration believed that activists of various student organisations used to sit in the recreation centre and the site had become a hub of political activities.

They told Dawn that earlier this month the Pukhtoon Students Federation (PSF) organized a rally against high cost of education at the STC on the campus. Later, two PSF leaders were arrested by the campus police on treason charges from the campus.

In the FIR registered on Thursday, PSF president Sardar Ahmad Khan and campus president Javed Khan Iqbal were charged with creating a law and order situation. They were also accused of instigating students against the state and setting the national flag on fire.

In a press release, the PSF had said that the demonstration was staged to press for their demand for reduction in hostel charges.

After the incident, the university administration, in a move designed to curb student politics on the campus, uprooted the STC's lawn so that students could be discouraged from sitting there, university sources said.

The students of the UOP said that cafeteria was a declared recreational centre in every university and they had been deprived of this facility. Internet cafes had already been closed down by the administration, they complained.

In one month, the university has got FIRs registered against six students for 'breach of peace', the students said.

On January 10, an FIR was registered against Jehangir Shah Bukhari, a law student and chairman of Human Rights Student's Forum for disturbing the campus environment. The same day, Samiullah Bangash, a Pushto department student and president of People's Student Federation was also charged with the same offence and denied accommodation in the hostel as a punishment, students of various departments told Dawn.

On Jan 17, Shakil-ur-Rehman Barki, a member of PSF, who had objected to the perceived violation of merit in the admissions under sports quota, saw an FIR being registered against him, said the UOP students.

"There are no problems faced by the students which the administration could not solve. However, universities are educational institutions and not places for practising politics," said Lt-Gen Mumtaz Gul, the vice-chancellor.

Shahab Hussain, a Political Science degree holder from UOP, and chief of Muttahida Tulaba Mahaz and Islami Jamiat Tulaba, said the university put the blame on students for involvement in political activists to cover their weaknesses and inefficiency.

"When students raise some issue or criticize the university policies, the administration terms it politics," he said.

The UOP students complained that the campus police was called to handle even the peaceful rallies of students and the use of force by the police had often caused resentment and anger among students.

They said there should be no police force inside the campus.

"The administration is anti-democracy. We have no right of expression," the students said.

The Provost of the university was not available for comments.