Speaking at the press conference at the Karachi Press Club, members of the APMSO ad-hoc committee Arshad Shah and Mohammad Abdi strongly condemned the incident and described it as ‘an act of terrorism’ carried out in an attempt to pitch the two student organisations against each other with the aim of disturbing educational atmosphere of the city.

They said that some elements were terming the incident ‘a clash between the two student groups’ but it was not true. They said that it was unfortunate that soon after the incident, IJT activists took over the Karachi University, as well as the National, Adamjee, Islamia and Premier colleges targeting members of the APMSO.

The ad-hoc committee members offered IJT and other student organisations talks on a new code of conduct. They called upon the Sindh governor and chief minister to order an inquiry into the killing of Akmal Shirazi leading to the arrest of his killer.

At a separate press conference that was also held at the KPC, IJT Nazim Syed Abdur Rasheed claimed that activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Kashif Mota and Rashid, along with others, entered the Government College of Commerce and Economics on Thursday and opened fire at some IJT members sitting in the college. As a result, he said, Syed Akmal suffered a bullet wound in his chest and Javed Beg sustained a bullet wound in his hand.

The IJT leader said that the terrorists escaped in the presence of the policemen posted at the college.

He said the IJT reserved the right to lodged an FIR and nominate the suspects involved in the attack. He said that it would also nominate the SHOs of Preedy and Artillery police stations for patronising the attackers.

He observed that almost every year, such incidents took place in the month of April and disturbed academic peace in the educational institutions of the city.

He expressed his surprise that this incident had taken place at a time when the director generals of ISI and MI were also present in the city.

He expressed the hope that an FIR would be lodged on the complaint of the IJT and not on behalf of the state. If the government tried to register an FIR against ‘unknown attackers’, the IJT would announce its future line of action, he added.

The IJT nazim announced a three-day mourning to be observed at all colleges and universities in the city, saying that students would wear black arm-bands and, after Juma prayers, stage a demonstration against the APMSO.