Police, IJT activists slug it out on The Mall

A heavy contingent of the Punjab police raided the Punjab University hostels on Friday morning and arrested 26 Islami Jamiat-e-Taliba (IJT) activists, including PU IJT Nazim Haq Nawaz, Pakistan Today has learnt.
According to an official PU spokesman, weapons and liquor was also recovered from the hostel premises. He said the recovery of these items was not an isolated incident as illegal items had been recovered from the hostels in the past.
The official said the weapons in the possession of students, have been used in attacks against teachers and students who challenge the writ of the IJT.
According to sources, the police raided the hostel areas following the instructions issued by the Punjab government’s top administrative officials who assured of their complete support to the PU administration over the recent attacks and instructed the IG police to maintain peace on the campus at any cost.
Fear gripped the PU students and resident community, when a heavy police contingent circled and later raided the PU hostels rooms occupied by the IJT activists who had attacked the varsity VC’s office.
According to sources, the raid took place at 3 am while the students were sleeping. A large number of Punjab police vehicles entered the hostel premises while some varsity administration officials also accompanied them.
A PU official seeking anonymity said police officials had lists which they had obtained from intelligence agencies that contained the names of the IJT activists who were involved in the recent attacks.
According to the PU spokesman, IJT Nazim Haq Nawaz, Zareen, Haris, Hafiz, Wajid, Muqeet, Sulman Basihr, Zia-ur-Rahman were among the students arrested by the police.
After the raid, a number of IJT activists protested against the PU administration and raised slogans against PU VC Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran and called him a killer.
It is important to mention here that the academic environment at the campus was disturbed after the murder of IJT nazim Awais Aqeel who was killed by another former IJT member Abrar Watto over a dispute about the occupation of a hostel room.
The IJT members had alleged that PU officials, including PUCIT Principal Dr Mansoor Sarwar, were responsible for the murder while the PU administration refuted the claims.
Meanwhile, IJT activists from the Civil Lines College, Science College Wahdat Road and other institutions joined the PU students in protests against the arrest of IJT nazim.
The protesting students clashed with the police, who opened aerial fire to disperse the protetsors.
54 IJT activists were also arrested from different institutions across the city, for protesting against the arrests. Two police officials were also injured during related clashes at Nasir Bagh.
A traffic jam was also observed on various city roads due to the protests.
Meanwhile, PU faculty members also continued their protests against the IJT activists over the attack on the VC’s office and said they will boycott classes until proper action was taken against the IJT activists.
Friday also saw a large number of students vacate the hostels for fear of being caught in the clashes between the police and the IJT activists. Many hostel residents also demanded the police set up pickets at the hostel.