CHARSADDA: The Bacha Khan University Charsadda’s administration on Monday ‘condemned’ the government’s fact-finding committee on the Jan 20 terrorist attack in the varsity for holding it responsible for security lapses on campus.

It also rejected as regrettable the committee’s advice for the removal of the university’s vice-chancellor over the attack, which claimed 21 lives.

The administration also announced the campus would remain closed until foolproof security was provided to it.

A three members face-finding committee formed by the KP government has blamed university administration for security lapses and recommended the sacking of the VC and security chief.

Explore: Probe into BKU attack: Committee recommends removal of vice chancellor, security incharge

The committee’s report came under discussion during a meeting chaired by Vice-Chancellor Dr. Fazl Rahim Marat.

Admin says several institutions were targeted by terrorists in the past but head of none of them was removed

The participants including heads of all departments discussed the report on the Jan 10 university attack and the reopening of the campus.

BHU registrar Hamidullah Khan and public relations officer Saeed Khan Khalil later told reporters that the meeting strongly condemned the committee’s report and termed its recommendation for the removal of the VC as ‘regrettable’.

They said several civilian, public and military institutions in the country were targeted by terrorists in the past but the head of not a single entity, including interior minister, was removed from office.

Mr. Hamidullah and Mr. Saeed said the participants decided that the university would remain closed until foolproof security arrangements were made on its premises.

They said a committee formed by the syndicate would take more steps to ensure security on campus.

The registrar and PRO said previously, the VC used to form the committee to ensure the university’s security but the law had given the power to do so to a syndicate committee.

They said the administration had asked the interior ministry to provide from 20 to 30 security personnel to the university to ensure its protection.

Mr. Hamidullah and Mr. Saeed said neither anyone from the university including the VC would resign nor would the administration allow the government to remove anyone.

They said the university would stand by its all staff members, including the VC.

The registrar and PRO said several public and military installations including GHQ, DI Khan Jail, Nadra offices, Army Public School and airbases were attacked but neither any action was taken against their heads nor were they removed from their respective offices.

They said the police didn’t issue any security advisory or warning to the university’s administration and instead, the administration asked the Higher Education Commission for funds to improve security, but to no avail.

The registrar and PRO said civilian institutions were usually guarded by common guards and not by regular forces and even then, the university’s guards bravely engaged the terrorists before the arrival of police and security forces.

Also in the day, the Bacha Khan University Employees Welfare Association and Universities Employees Federation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa rejected the fact-finding committee’s report and demanded judicial probe into the Jan 20 terrorist attack.

In separate meetings here, members of both the associations questioned the impartiality of the face-finding panel and demanded a transparent inquiry into the attack through a judicial commission.

They warned they would launch a protest campaign by closing universities throughout the province if the vice chancellor was removed.

Meanwhile, the BKU students’ action committee demanded the immediate reopening of the university and warned it would agitate if the demand was not met.

In a meeting chaired by its president Adnan Khan, the committee decided to take all students federations along for the closure of all universities in the province.

It also demanded a compensation package for the attack like the one announced for the APS attack victims.

The three members committee consisting of Peshawar division commissioner Dr Fakhr-i-Alam, Mardan police DIG Saeed Wazir and special secretary to the higher education department Abdul Ghafoor was formed by the home and tribal affairs department on Jan 22. The committee submitted its report to the government on Jan 26.

In the five pages report, the committee said there were serious lapses in security management of the varsity.

It recommended that the university’s chancellor be asked to remove VC and security chief from service and be made part of investigation.

The committee also called for proper arms training for the university’s guards and the hiring of experts to establish a proper control room and CCTV mechanisms for immediate response in case of terrorist attacks.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2016