Punjab University: Consensus against IJT grew from al Qaeda man’s arrest

The Express Tribune

The Punjab University administration, law enforcement agencies and the Punjab government are all on the same page in an operation to clear university hostels of illegal residents, officials told The Express Tribune. Dozens of students were arrested on Monday for various public disorder offences after protesters burned a bus, disabled vehicles on University Road to block traffic and clashed with police who were clearing out Hostel No 16. The atmosphere on campus on Tuesday was calm and academic activities continued as per routine. Though student unions are banned on campuses, the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT), the student wing of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), has long maintained a strong presence at the PU. The government, police and university administration finally decided to act against it when a suspected Al Qaeda handler was arrested from a hostel in September. Last month, Education Minister Rana Mashhood Khan, PU Vice Chancellor Professor Mujahid Kamran, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Chaudhry Shafiq Gujjar and others met to discuss what to do about the PU hostels. They decided to convert Hostel No 16, an IJT stronghold, into a hostel for girls, for whom accommodation on campus was short. “Some illegal occupants were residing there. The number of female students in PU is almost equal to the number of male students. A strategic decision was taken to shift girls to Hostel No 16, which is considered an IJT stronghold. The IJT went against this decision and took the law into their hands and were arrested for doing so,” a senior official told The Express Tribune. He said that the IJT was sheltering members of banned militant organisations at the hostels. “All such persons have been identified and nominated in FIRs. The Academic Staff Association, Punjab University administration and the government are on the same page on this issue,” the official said. A Punjab University spokesman said that there were a total of 7,500 students living in 28 hostels, of which 3,500 are females. But there were 18 hostels for boys and only 10 for girls, so they decided to convert Hostel No 16. “There was a shortage of rooms at hostels for girls, not boys, and that’s why this decision was taken,” he said. Hostel No 1 is also said to be an IJT stronghold, but officials said that there were no current plans to alter its status. The ASA, which represents faculty members, met on campus on Tuesday and thanked the Punjab government for supporting the administration’s action against the IJT. In a statement, the ASA alleged that IJT members involved in illegal activities had taken refuge at the JI headquarters in Mansoora. “It is shameful that a political party is giving refuge to those supporting militants belonging to banned organisations. Their activities are destroying the education atmosphere of not just PU, but of other prestigious institutes,” the ASA statement read. An IJT spokesman blamed the PU administration and the Punjab government for the situation. “Their aggressive attitude has created a stressful atmosphere on campus. They are trying to convert the university into a police state. The IJT has no connection with any banned organisation and has always struggled for the rights of students,” he said. The spokesman pointed out that an anti-terrorism court had deleted terrorism charges from one FIR registered against some IJT members. Officials of an intelligence agency were led to the Punjab University when a member of a reported Al Qaeda “suicide squad” repeatedly visited a man living in the hostels. That person was said to be the squad’s handler. He was arrested from the hostel in September. An intelligence officer who led the operations in which wanted Al Qaeda figures Ahmad Khalfan Ghalani and Naeem Noor Khan alias Abu Talha were arrested told The Express Tribune that JI had been “directly and indirectly involved” in providing accommodation to Al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, who is said to be the mastermind of the September 11 attacks in the US, was arrested in March 2004 from the house of a JI women’s wing leader in Rawalpindi, he said. JI Central Information Secretary Muhammad Anwar Niazi said that the allegations were baseless and neither the IJT nor the JI had any links to Al Qaeda. “Anybody is welcome to come to Mansoora and see whether anybody is hiding here,” he added. He said that the PU vice chancellor was spoiling the atmosphere at the PU and making false accusations against the IJT and the JI.