ISLAMABAD: As many as 25 students were injured in a clash between two groups of students at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) on Saturday night.

Of the injured students, 20 were admitted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) and five to Polyclinic.

Secretariat police registered a First Information Report (FIR) on the complaint of campus manager Lt Col Nadeem Abbas.

According to the application, at 10pm on Saturday a guard of hostel No 5 informed Mr Abbas that some students had beaten up Muzamil Marwat near Karachi Huts and injured him in the head.

“Then 70 to 80 students/persons led by Chairman Punjab Council Rana Hasan started gathering in Hotel No 7. At the same time, around 300 students belonging to Pakthtun community led by Asad Turi also gathered there,” FIR stated.

Police launch investigation however no arrest made so far

“Asad Turi addressed the students and then the students having iron rods and batons attacked Hostel No 7. The clash between the two groups continued for around 40 minutes and left around 25 students injured.”

The police have started an investigation but no arrest was made till filing of this story.

Clashes among student groups have become routine at the QAU. The management of the university has not found a solution to the issue.

In May this year, the QAU administration postponed a three-day Abdus Salam Festival that was scheduled to start on May 27 after a religious group expressed its resentment over it.

Dr Abdul Salam was a theoretical physicist and the first Pakistani to win a Nobel Prize in 1979.

The function was arranged to honour his services in the field of science by Quaid-i-Azam University Science Society in collaboration with Pakistan Academy of Sciences and National Centre for Physics.

Quaid-i-Azam University (once named Islamabad University) was established in July 1967 under an Act of the National Assembly and started teaching and research programmes for PhD and MPhil degrees. Later, it also started offering master’s, graduate and undergraduate programmes.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2024