LAHORE: Punjab Higher Education Minister Raza Ali Gillani said on Saturday the criminal cases registered against some students of the Punjab University (PU) would be quashed but disciplinary action would be taken against those involved in clashes.

Speaking at a press conference at the Punjab University Executive Club, the minister averred the government would treat students as students but there would certainly be disciplinary action against the incorrigible ones found involved in clashes and tarnishing the reputation of the varsity.

The university administration, he said, had earlier suspended 37 students on different charges and it would also take action against the students of the PU.

Speaking to Dawn over phone, DIG Investigation Sultan Chaudhry confirmed that the arrested students would be bailed out soon.

PU Vice Chancellor Dr Zakria Zakar and other university officials were present at the press conference, where the minister revealed that they had also found malpractice in the scholarship procedure and reviewed it.

“From now on the scholarships will be provided to the students on the recommendation of the Balochistan government,” he said, adding that still they would scrutinise the list.

Asma wants commission to probe campus violence

Later, Balochistan Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti also held a press conference and thanked the Punjab government for solving the issue (recent clash) as well as its generosity for considering the Balochistan students for scholarships. But, he said, the number of scholarships should be enhanced otherwise they would launch a protest drive.

He said he had held several meetings with the PU administration and came to know that a student group had been involved in violence for many decades but no action had been taken against it.

“I suggest that the government empower the university administration so that no student organisation dares operate on campus,” he said while demanding that the institution be depoliticised.

The Balochistan minister had come to Lahore to solve the students’ issue in the PU but no official of the Punjab government or the PU administration accompanied him to his presser.

Asked why he did not go for a joint press conference with the Punjab Higher Education minister, he said: “I am a guest and can’t make any such arrangement.”

At a meeting over the recent clash in the PU, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said violence in the varsity was regrettable and the violators of law did not deserve any leniency. He constituted a committee to look into the matter and come up with a report.

ASMA JAHANGIR: Rights activist Asma Jahangir on Saturday demanded that the Punjab government immediately release the Pakhtun and Baloch students the police had arrested following clashes at the Punjab University.

Speaking at a presser at the Lahore Press Club, she berated the Punjab government for registration of cases against the students on terrorism charges. She urged the government to constitute an independent inquiry commission comprising retired chief justice of Pakistan Nasirul Mulk to probe the campus violence.

Veteran journalist Hussain Naqi, Farooq Tariq of Awami Workers Party and some civil society activists joined the press conference along with Baloch and Pakhtun students.

Ms Jahangir said the university’s vice chancellor was not capable of handling the campus affairs and should step aside. She took exception to the VC’s views about the students from other provinces, stressing that there should be no discrimination among students on an ethnic basis.

“Torture of any student is not tolerable,” she said and added that the politicians should act responsibly.

A former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Ms Jahangir took it as an opportunity to demand that the government lift the ban on student unions. “A specific union has been allowed to operate despite the ban,” she said.

While sharing memories of his student life, Mr Naqi observed a police action inside the university campus was highly regrettable. “There was a time when no irrelevant department had the courage to interfere in the Punjab University affairs,” he recalled.

He said military dictator Ziaul Haq had patronised a specific student union to gain support in Punjab, which created a sense of deprivation among other provinces and damaged the educational institutions.

Representatives of the Baloch Students Council alleged that they were still receiving threats from the IJT and that the university administration had not contacted them even once.

IJT: At yet another press conference,Jamaat-i-Islami spokesman Ameerul Azeem said the administration of the Punjab University had failed to discharge its responsibility and maintain independence of the institution.

“The PU is an autonomous institution and no interference in its affairs should be allowed,” said Mr Azeem who remained a nazim of the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT). He accused a former vice chancellor of playing a role that led to deteriorating law and order situation on campus.

He claimed that 55 activists of the IJT had been arrested and demanded that they be released.

IJT spokesman Hafiz Idrees said his organisation did not believe in discrimination. Responding to concerns expressed by some Senate members, he invited them to visit the university to find out truth by themselves.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2018