IJT activists abuse female students

Punjab University (PU) Islami Jamiat Taliba (IJT) activists beat up a male student in the varsity’s Philosophy Department and hurled abuse at female students on Wednesday. Following the incident, a large number of female students held a protest in front of the PU vice chancellor (VC)’s office, demanding the varsity administration crack down on IJT activists living illegally in PU hostels. PU RO Javaid Sami said that IJT activists and PU Philosophy Department students, Adnan Rathore and Abrar, abused female students. He said that the varsity administration had sent their case to the disciplinary committee. He said the varsity administration condemned this incident and terming it a ‘shameful act’, he said that females had to be respected. He assured females that varsity administration would follow up on this incident. PU IJT Nazim Zubair Safder said that the matter was not in his knowledge. IJT activists, who tortured a number of students last week, roughed up a Philosophy Department student, Kashif, for sitting with his female class fellows in the department on Wednesday.
THE PROTEST: A large number of PU female students from various departments including the Institution of Education and Research, Political Science, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Geology, Statistics and Geography departments held a demonstration. Female students carried posters against IJT and chanted slogans such as, “Go Jamiat Go” and “Taliban Murda Bad”. They later protested in front of the VC’s office and demanded VC take action against IJT and protect them from IJT activists. The protestors wanted to meet the VC to record their protest but could not, and later PU RO RO Sami listened to the students’ complaints.
The protestors condemned Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for not taking action against IJT. They alleged that the CM was ‘providing IJT activists with varsity’s land to promote extremism’.
Protestors also demanded IJT officials take action against the ‘black sheep’ in their group. Addressing the IJT, the protestors said that the ‘torchbearers of Islam’ should know that beating up girls was not Islamic.
STUDENTS SPEAK OUT: A PU student, Rabia, said that females had been facing threats from the ‘local Talibans’ who were present in the varsity’s hostels and had been beating students. She said that it was ‘shameful’ for the CM, who ‘boasted’ good governance in the province but did not consider that females were not safe and institutions had become ‘hubs of extremism’. She said that students were tortured in the past as well but the CM did not take action although PU VC had briefed him about the varsity’s situation.
A PU student, Ayesha, said that females had been expecting males to protest against IJT but no one had the courage to do so, thus females now raised their voices against IJT. She said that all females who came to the protest were from well-off and respected families and their parents had not sent them to PU to suffer IJT’s torture. She alleged that IJT activists were candidly involved in all sorts of illegal activities including theft and robbery.
Another PU student, Maria, said that IJT activists tortured three students last week, who had to be hospitalized later. She termed IJT activists ‘wild animals who had no respect for humanity’. She said IJT activists had abused females to the limit where the females had to take the matter to the road. She said that female students’ parents worried about their children’s security in the presence of IJT activists in the varsity. She said that female students would continue holding protests until the CM gave them protection.