MANSEHRA: Hundreds of college students took to the streets on Thursday to protest against the alleged illegal confinement and torture of their colleague by Pulrah police.

The students started the rally from the commerce college at Karakoram Highway and reached the press club after marching through various roads. The protesters demanded the arrest of those policemen who had taken a student, Qasim Nazir, into custody when he was returning home from his college, then confined him in the police station for the entire night and allegedly tortured him. The students also staged a sit-in at the main junction blocking it for traffic.

Speaking on the occasion, the victim student said that he was returning from his college in Mansehra when exchange of hot words took place with a female constable, who was in plain clothes, after she snubbed students not to talk with each other.

He said that later she called other policemen and forcibly took him to police station and kept and tortured him for the entire night.

Hold rally in Mansehra, demand arrest of policemen

Later, deputy commissioner Zulfiqar Jadoon talked with the protesting students to end their agitation. Assistant commissioner Qasim Ali Khan assured the students that an inquiry would be conducted into the matter and action taken if allegations were proved against the policemen.

PROTECTION DEMANDED: The Shemale Association of Hazara has imposed ban on personal parties and birthday celebrations of their community members for three months in protest against increasing attacks on them in Hazara division.

“The police have failed to give us protection and criminals are now even attacking our personal parties,” said Mari Khan, the association’s president, while speaking to mediapersons on Thursday.

He said that the shemale associations of Haripur, Abbottabad and Mansehra had decided not to hold their personal events because of possible attacks on them.

Maria claimed that the birthday party of their colleague, Mado, was disturbed at a hotel in Abbottabad by a drunken group of people who what he alleged even aimed Kalashnikovs on the community members.

He said that if police failed to provide protection to their community they would announce agitation in the entire Hazara.

Maria said that an FIR had been registered against the attackers and police should take action against them.

HU CAMPUS: Hazara University vice-chancellor Dr Sohail Shahzad, officials of Higher Education Commission and MPA Wajiuzzaman Khan visited the proposed site for establishment of the HU campus in Oghi here on Thursday. The federal government has sanctioned Rs500 million for launching the campus in Oghi.

Dr Shahzad told reporters that if the provincial government gave a go-ahead the classes would be started at the under-construction college building from March next year.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2014