KARACHI, Aug 15: A student leader was beaten to death on Wednesday on the premises of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.
The Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba (IJT) said victim Hafiz Abdur Rehman was its nazim at the JPMC and was beaten to death by activists of the Punjabi Students’ Association.
Eyewitnesses said the two groups of students clashed at the Sindh Medical College at around 1.45pm.
They said five students were injured when they were hit by rivals with clubs and iron rods.
The injured, identified as Sardar Wajid, Afsar Ali, Sajid, Ashraf Mir and Faizan, were brought to the emergency centre of the JPMC.
The Karachi IJT Nazim, Abdur Rasheed, told reporters at the JPMC that the PSA activists dragged Hafiz Abdur Rehman out of the emergency centre where the injured IJT workers were being given medical aid.
He said the PSA men beat Rehman with clubs and iron rods and he died on the spot.
The Saddar police said they had arrested five students following the clash between the two rival students’ groups.
The IJT nazim alleged that criminal elements had occupied the hostels of the Sindh Medical College. He said no action was ever taken against those elements despite several complaints lodged with the college administration.
The agitating students chanted slogans against their rivals and the college administration as they took the body of the IJT leader from the JMPC to Baitul Mukkarram mosque, where the funeral prayer of the victim was offered.
An IJT spokesman said the body would be sent to the victim’s hometown of Multan for burial.
DUHS, affiliated colleges closed to avert trouble
The Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) on Wednesday announced it would suspend teaching activities at its affiliated medical colleges for three days to deter any possible ‘repercussions’ in the campuses.
The announcement came in the aftermath of the killing of one of its students during clashes between activists of the Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba and the Punjabi Students’ Association at the Sindh Medical College (SMC), a top official told Dawn.While announcing the suspension of teaching activities at the SMC, Dow Medical College and Ishratul Ibad Dental College for three days, Professor Masood Hameed Khan, Vice-Chancellor of DUHS, said the paramilitary Rangers had been called in to ensure security at the affiliated colleges, while all the boys’ hostels had been vacated.
He said the Rangers’ personnel had not been called for permanent stay at the institutions, but they will remain there till further orders.
He called upon all political leaders to get together and de-politicise the educational institutions.
About the fate of the hostel residents he said it would cause little impact to the students as most of the occupants at the SMC were outsiders.
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