LAHORE: At least 12 Punjab University students were given into police custody following a clash between the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) and two other groups of student on Friday.
Four students were injured in the clash.
Witnesses said the clash erupted following a scuffle between some IJT activists and a Pakhtun student at the Gender Studies Department. They said the student was severely beaten up by the IJT activists. A number of students associated with the Pakhtun and the Baloch Councils, two student groups, had soon gathered at the scene. Three IJT activists were injured in the clash that ensued. The clash ended on the PU security personnel’s arrival at the scene. At least 12 students were taken into custody and handed over to Muslim Town police.
Later, dozens of Pakhtun and Baloch Councils members staged a demonstration on the Canal Bank Road to protest what they called IJT activists’ highhandedness. The protesters blocked the road for traffic and demanded action against the IJT.
The protesters dispersed after a contingent of police and PU administration reached the scene and held negotiations with them.
One of the protesters, Ibrar Ahmed, who identified himself as a member of the Pakhtun Council, said the student beaten up at the Gender Studies Department had had an argument with some IJT activists a day ago. He said the student had defied the IJT activists’ demand that he stop talking to a female classmate at the Hailey College of Commerce.
On Friday, Ahmed said some IJT activists followed the student. They confronted him when he was at the Gender Studies Department, he said.
Another protester, Izhar Khan, who said he belonged to Balochistan, said harassment by IJT activists had become routine at the PU campus. He said most of his friends now to confined themselves to their hostel rooms most of the time. “We visit the campus only when it’s absolutely necessary,” he said.
IJT spokesman Amjad Bukhari denied that IJT activists were involved in any harassment incident. “We don’t indulge in such practices,” he said. He also dismissed the suggestion that Friday’s clash was started by some IJT men. He said the IJT activists were attacked by a group of Pakhtun students accompanied by several outsiders. He said the Pakhtun students and the outsiders had also ransacked some IJT activists’ hostel rooms. He accused the PU security of conniving with the attackers.
Regarding Thursday’s incident, Bukhari said the man involved in the incident at Hailey College was not a PU student. He said he had been asked to leave the campus.
PU spokesperson Khuram Shahzad said timely response by the university administration had helped control the situation. He said the police were investigating the matter and strict disciplinary action would be ensured against those involved in the clash.
Regarding harassment complaints against the IJT, Shahzad said action would be ensured on complaints to the administration.
The Muslim Town SHO said they were investigating the matter and would register an FIR after the report of a medico-legal examination of the injured students was available.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2015.
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