PU’s International students live in lear

Foreign students, enrolled in various departments of the historic Punjab University (PU), are depressed due to the hooliganism at the varsity and they are facing serious security threats while most of them have demanded of the Punjab government to set up a police check post on the permanent bases in the hostel area, Pakistan Today learnt on Sunday. According to the foreigners, they had raised their voice on the issue of security several times, especially when torture and firing incidents happen at the varsity and now when the teachers themselves were facing security threats, they were also unsure about their security. Foreign students said government of Punjab should understand the sensitivity of the matters and added that students’ opinion about the academic standard of the Pakistani universities had changed due to the failure of the government to provide security. A large number of foreign students, especially females are enrolled in different departments of PU. It is pertinent to mention here that some days ago, firing incident took place at the PU Registrar DR Raas Massod’s home and before this fire was also opened at the home of PU member syndicate’s Professor Dr Shokat Ali home while last month some students also took PU faculty member Dr Munawar Sabir hostage at his home. Illegal activities especially firing on the teachers’ homes, torturing students for intermingling and incidents of robberies and thefts had disturbed the stakeholders of the varsity but this situation had now disheartened the foreigners

who were now demanding that a police check post be setup for their security. Earlier, PU ASA had also demanded that a police post be setup inside the university. Foreign students, who belong to African countries, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia and other parts are enrolled in the various departments of the varsity including pharmacy, social sciences and engineering disciplines and residing at the PU Hostel 2 that is situated in a location that is the hub of various types of plights and illegal activities. “We fail to understand why the CM is not taking an action against the miscreants who have taken the entire university hostage,” a student from Saudi Arabia, asking not to be named, said, adding “I think rangers should be deployed because the police is just not enough to control these hooligans.” Another student said, “We move around the varsity all day and we feel very secure. The hero of these people is Osama Bin Laden and they distribute pamphlets related to other militants also.” “They held an essay competition on Osama bin Laden also, but no action was taken against them,” he said. “Government needs to understand how the university is being run. Our families are living in this university and we have to fear for their life every single day of our life here,” a senior professor said. “Militants are living in the hostels and they are the ones deciding the rules here. If no action is taken against them, we fear that their hold on the varsity will only increase,” a female faculty member said.