LAHORE: The Punjab University Academic Staff Association condemned the torture and life attacks by the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) hooligans on the Professor of Kashmir Studies in the Punjab University (PU).
Dr Sardra Asghar Iqbal urged Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Lahore High Court Chief Justice Mansoor Ali Shah to take notice of the incident.
Revealing his ordeal to Pakistan Today, Dr Asghar, also vice-president of the Academic Staff Association (ASA), said that he was brutally tortured by IJT goons after he removed banners and pamphlets of the IJT from Hostel 15 following the instructions of Hall Council Chairman Abid Hussain Chaudhry and started recovery of Rs 1.5 million owed by the IJT hooligans in residing hostel 15.
“Club-wielding IJT ‘militants’ came to my office, tortured, abused and fractured my hand. They have threatened me with dire consequences, attacked my house and even threatened to kidnap my wife and children. I have not been able to sleep after their torture for the last three days.” He said he lodged his complaint with Anarkali Police Station but the police have not registered his FIR due to the reluctance of the PU administration.
“No disciplinary action has been taken against the goons. For the first time in the history of PU, rather a fact-finding inquiry committee has been formed against me,” he lamented.
He said that the university has become a hub of militants’ nursery due to the IJT and even Al-Qaeda militants had been getting shelter in the PU’s hostel No 1 in the past. PU is a playground for IJT goons and their members are playing the role of facilitator for militants.
“The IJT continues to rule PU by creating harassment, sowing fear, and using strong-arm tactics against everyone and anyone who dares to stand in its way, that person may be a male or female university student or teacher. They are harassing female students in the worst possible manner and exploiting them,” he said.
“Thousands of people have suffered the savagery by IJT goons. 40,000 students and 10,000 university staff are not safe from them,” he said. “The Punjab University has become a hub of militants and a no-go area in the heart of Lahore,” he added.
He lamented that the Punjab government, federal government and the powerful establishment have done nothing to make the university a safe and secure place for teachers and students. According to Dr Asghar, about 30 teachers have been tortured by the IJT hooligans till now.
ASA President Javed Sami and Secretary General Iftikhar Ahmed Tarar condemned the torture of professor Asghar in the strongest possible words.
They said that the IJT has ruined the academic and educational atmosphere in the PU.
“No progressive people come to the university due to IJTs presence. The university is going back to the dark ages since it is not able to sow the seeds of progress in students’ minds. We have been serving PU for the last 25 years but there is not a single year or session when there is no violence by these hooligans. IJT thugs are ruining the intellectual curiosity of both students and teachers,” they said.
“Progressive minds visit LUMS and other universities but they never come to PU for a lecture due to the presence of the IJT goons,” they said.
Iftikhar Tarar said that the IJT goons are targeting people on the basis of religion, faith, sect, ideology and political affiliations. Sindhi, Balochi, Pashtun and Kashmiris; everyone is being targeted.
ASA President Javed Sami and Secretary General Iftikhar Ahmed Tarar demanded the immediate removal of Hall Council Chairman as well as the deployment of rangers so that students can have a somewhat normal academic and educational atmosphere in the university.
They also demanded exemplary punishment of those responsible for torturing Professor Asghar. They urged the government to declare the IJT a terrorist organization and impose a ban on its activities in educational institutes.
