May 13, 2008	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 7, 1429

LAHORE, May 12: Jamaat-i-Islami amir Qazi Husain Ahmad has condemned Punjab University’s ban on the Islami Jamiat Talaba book fair, police crackdown on the varsity, vacation of its hostels and arrest of students.

In a statement issued on Monday, Mr Ahmed said through the closure of the university the administration had proved to be anti-education.

He said the proposed book fair was a positive and healthy activity which the Jamiat had been organising for the last many years and one failed to understand why such measures were not being tolerated.

He said at a time when the government had lifted ban on student unions there was no excuse for banning book fairs and closing down universities.

He said Governor Khalid Maqbool might be involved in the affair as he was always active against the Jamiat at the behest of President Pervez Musharraf.

Mr Ahmed demanded the PML-N's Punjab government explain whether the province was being run by it or by the governor, a representative of Gen (retd) Musharraf.

PUASA: The Punjab University Academic Staff Association executive council has expressed its strong reservations over the closure of the university for four days.

An emergency meeting of the PUASA executive council chaired by president Dr Mumtaz Salik held here on Monday said the PU administration should have resolved the book fair issue in a logical manner instead of suspending university's academic, research and administrative matters.

He said the university's closure had also suspended the semester examinations, while selection board and other important meetings were postponed.

The executive council said the administration had closed most of the entry points to the university and deployed police as well as security guards, creating an environment of harassment on the campus.

The council said the situation would tarnish the university's image at home and abroad.

The executive council resolved that some `hidden hands’ were working for `hidden motives’ while disrupting peace on the university campus.

The PUASA council demanded that the university should be re-opened immediately and all hurdles placed at entry points be removed.