ISLAMABAD: The capital administration and police on Tuesday decided that the crisis at the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) should be resolved through talks with the students instead of using force against them.

At a meeting chaired by Deputy Commissioner retired Capt Mushtaq Ahmed and attended by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sajid Kiani and other officers it was decided that before resorting to using the police force every option should be used to resolve the matter amicably.

The QAU is located within the Diplomatic Enclave so the ongoing crisis merits a peaceful resolution instead of using force, the participants of the meeting observed.

They said the district administration and police had the capability to conduct an operation at the university but due to the possibility of causalities and other consequences a joint meeting at the senior most level - the ministry of interior and secretary to the president of Pakistan - may be convened to take a final decision.

A three-member committee may be announced by the vice chancellor to start negotiations with the protesting students, the meeting suggested.

The committee should hold a meeting with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for the provision of funds to purchase new buses and increase facilities at the medical centre, gymnasium and hostels of the university.

The matter may also be referred to the relevant standing committee of the Senate of Pakistan to review the affairs of the university, especially its fee structure, the officials added.

A new committee, comprising neutral members, should also be constituted to review cases of all the expelled/rusticated students.

The committee should not consist of any member who had been a part of the committee that announced the penalties on the students.

Academic activities at the QAU have remained suspended since early October after students started a protest against the university administration, including the vice chancellor, for their alleged administrative irregularities and embezzlement, the officials stated.

The vice chancellor, on the other hand, claims that the students had been protesting to pressure him to restore all those who had been expelled for creating unrest on the campus a few months ago.

The call for the protest strike was given by the Quaidian Student Foundation which said the students would not attend classes unless their 13 demands were met.

Their demands included the immediate restoration of all the expelled students, a revision to the fee structure, the construction of new hostels, provision of buses, reimbursement of heavy fines and an improvement to facilities.

On October 5, the capital administration had reopened the roads blocked by the students of the university on Oct 1.

The roads were reopened after the administration of the QAU constituted a committee to negotiate with the protesting students. The committee comprised four faculty members of the university, four officials of the capital administration and two of the police.

The students and the university administration were given 48 hours by the capital administration to resolve their issues. But later the students again closed the roads.

In May, two groups of students had clashed on the campus during which they also used weapons.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2017