Armed' Group keeps SU Closed for Two Days
Hyderabad, Sept 26: Academic activities at Sindh University remained suspended for the second consecutive day on Tuesday as a group of activists describing themselves as the 'People's Students Federation-Baghi' forced closure of faculties and did not let the point buses operate over entry of a Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz leader to the university a day earlier.
PSF-B chief Imran Brohi said he believed that JSQM leader Zohaib Qureshi was involved in the murder of a PSF-B activist Lala Ramees Sohag in an armed attack that also caused bullet wounds to Mr Brohi.
The PSF-B leader said he approached the SU registrar and requested him to ensure that Mr Qureshi did not enter the campus and the official promised to see to it.
The PSF-B enforced a boycott of classes on Tuesday alleging that the university administration wanted to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere on the campus. Point buses did not operate and all faculties remained closed on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Sindh University Teachers' Association (Suta) on Tuesday convened a special meeting of its executive council on the issue of recent academic disturbance on the campus.
Suta acting president Asghar Burfat chaired the meeting, which noted that the unrest was being caused by a handful of activists led by Imran Brohi. It also noted that Mr Brohi objected to Mr Qureshi's entry to the campus during JSQM's education rally on Monday.
The meeting observed that Mr Brohi leading members of his group stopped point buses at gunpoint on Monday in order to prevent Mr Qureshi from entering the university. All academic activities remained suspended as a result. However, the group failed in its attempt and Mr Qureshi did manage to enter the campus along with participants in the rally. The Baghi group continued to enforce a boycott of academic activists on Tuesday.
The meeting recalled that only a few days back some other students, also associated with Mr Brohi, were seen involved in firing at the commerce and political science departments and they misbehaved with faculty members.
"Suta condemns these acts of barbarism and incapability of SU administration to deal with goons. It is disappointing that a handful of goons held the university hostage.
The university administration along with police, Rangers and internal security failed to provide a secure transportation to students and employees," the Suta executive council said.
It said that the dual nationality-holder SU vice-chancellor was spending more time in Karachi and abroad than at the university. It regretted that the university administer had not evolved a strategy to prevent disturbances that had been occurring on the campus frequently. "The alleged links of Mr Brohi with ISI officials indicate that it is a deliberate effort of state agencies to cause disturbance at the SU just to settle their political scores."
The Suta council said it believed that peaceful protest was a right of every individual and association but protest enforced at gunpoint was indeed an act of terrorism and the SU must take disciplinary action against those responsible for such disturbances. It requested all stakeholders to play their role in restoring peaceful academic activities on the campus and eliminating external political inference.
According to a university spokesman, classes were held but attendance of students remained thin due to an announcement of strike.
He said that administrative staff also attended the campus but students did not turn up in the required number after the strike call. He said that a students' group had given a strike call.
