PESHAWAR: Students blocked the University Road here after two organisations clashed over playing of music and participation of female students in a festival held at the Islamia College on Wednesday.

A student also sustained injuries when the police resorted to tear gas to disperse the protesters, and was taken to the Khyber Teaching Hospital.

The police said the clash occurred when Islami Jamiat Talaba tried to stop a two-day music festival organised by the Khalil Students’ Organisation at the historic Islamia College.

They said the music festival was held to highlight local culture, but the IJT activists objected to the event, particularly to the participation of female students in it. Both the groups indulged in physical brawls and subsequently restored to firing in the air at the campus. Later, both the groups held separate protest demonstrations on the University Road, blocking it.

The police had to use teargas to disperse the protesters and clear the road for traffic.

Both the groups accused each another of violence and demanded of the administration to prevent such occurrences in future, the police said.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2022