Kohat University brute force against the students

Probe ordered into use of force against students

Kohat, July 01: Taking notice of the use of force against the protesting students of Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST), Governor Barrister Masood Kausar has ordered the Kohat commissioner, Sahibzada Mohammad Anees, to conduct inquiry into the incident and submit a report to him.

"The governor, who is also the KUST chancellor, has asked the commissioner to look into the university affairs and fix responsibility of who ordered the use of brute force against the students by police," official sources told this correspondent on Tuesday.

About 255 students were arrested and many were baton charged and tear gassed after they blocked the university road on Saturday last in protest against lack of facilities, loadshedding and delay in issuance of degrees to some students. Later, all students were bailed out by the court after 24 hours.

According to the initial inquiry, Vice Chancellor Nasir Jamal Khattak had denied charges of asking the police to thrash students. A staff member privy to the meetings followed by the incident quoted the VC as saying that some third force had acted to create misunderstandings between the administration and students.

On the other hand, the police took the plea that they were asked by the university administration to 'teach a lesson' to the protesting students.

A student, who requested anonymity, said, "I jumped from the third floor of the hostel in panic when five policemen who were beating students ran towards me. The police broke the window pans and harassed the students who were preparing for their exams inside the hostels."

This correspondent learnt that the governor had been handed over the CD of police baton charge and tear gas shelling on the students by a delegation of lawyers from Kohat, which called on him on Monday.

Another delegation, headed by Kohat ANP president Inayatullah met with the chief minister and informed him about the grievances of the students.

Both the delegations demanded immediate transfer of the vice chancellor, saying that his conduct had become controversial amidst allegations of spreading ethnic hatred in the institution.

Several students said that they had been protesting against loadshedding, shortage of accommodation and drinking water for the last so many months despite regular hike in fee.

Meanwhile, the vice chancellor declared holidays from June 29 and abruptly cancelled the summer classes this year through a notification issued on Tuesday. When contacted, some university officials said that they were surprised at the orders and alleged that the VC was trying to hamper the investigations into the incident by closing down the university.

Source Dawn:KOHAT, June 28: Taking notice of the use of force against the protesting students of Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST), Governor Barrister Masood Kausar has ordered the Kohat commissioner, Sahibzada Mohammad Anees, to conduct inquiry into the incident and submit a report to him.

“The governor, who is also the KUST chancellor, has asked the commissioner to look into the university affairs and fix responsibility of who ordered the use of brute force against the students by police,” official sources told this correspondent on Tuesday.

About 255 students were arrested and many were baton charged and tear gassed after they blocked the university road on Saturday last in protest against lack of facilities, loadshedding and delay in issuance of degrees to some students. Later, all students were bailed out by the court after 24 hours.

According to the initial inquiry, Vice Chancellor Nasir Jamal Khattak had denied charges of asking the police to thrash students. A staff member privy to the meetings followed by the incident quoted the VC as saying that some third force had acted to create misunderstandings between the administration and students.

On the other hand, the police took the plea that they were asked by the university administration to `teach a lesson` to the protesting students.

A student, who requested anonymity, said, “I jumped from the third floor of the hostel in panic when five policemen who were beating students ran towards me. The police broke the window pans and harassed the students who were preparing for their exams inside the hostels.”

This correspondent learnt that the governor had been handed over the CD of police baton charge and tear gas shelling on the students by a delegation of lawyers from Kohat, which called on him on Monday.

Another delegation, headed by Kohat ANP president Inayatullah met with the chief minister and informed him about the grievances of the students.

Both the delegations demanded immediate transfer of the vice chancellor, saying that his conduct had become controversial amidst allegations of spreading ethnic hatred in the institution.

Several students told Dawn that they had been protesting against loadshedding, shortage of accommodation and drinking water for the last so many months despite regular hike in fee.

Official sources said that chairing the 13th meeting of the university syndicate the VC, Nasir Jamal Khattak, said that the students had adopted illegal means to achieve their demands by taking the staff of secrecy department hostage. The syndicate also approved Rs6 million for buying power generators for the hostels.

Meanwhile, the vice chancellor declared holidays from June 29 and abruptly cancelled the summer classes this year through a notification issued on Tuesday. When contacted, some university officials said that they were surprised at the orders and alleged that the VC was trying to hamper the investigations into the incident by closing down the university.

Peshawar: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor, Barrister Masood Kausar who is also the Chancellor of the public sector universities of the province has sought report on the incident of clash that took place at the campus of the Kohat University of Science and Technology on Friday.

Taking exception of the situation, emerging in wake of the incident, the Governor contacted the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Nasser Jamal Khattak and the Commissioner Kohat, Sahibzada Anis and directed that the facts should be ascertained immediately and necessary actions shall be taken against the persons responsible for such act as well as to avoid such happening in future.

For more information, contact:
Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Tel: +9291 921 6889 (Ext 106)
Email: info@khyberpakhtunkhwa.gov.pk

KOHAT, June 24 Dawn News: Three students and a policeman were injured in baton charge and stone pelting when hundreds of protesting students of Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST) and riot police clashed here on Friday.

The students, earlier, had blocked the University Road for several hours to protest against the delay in issuance of degrees to their former colleagues despite payment of fee long ago.

The police also arrested 255 students of different departments and locked them in the police lines and declared several others as proclaimed offenders. Besides, cases have been registered against the students with the Jarma police station on the complaint of the university administration for creating disturbance in the annual examinations, which started on Friday.

Talking to this correspondent at the scene of clash, some of the students said that they were holding a peaceful protest to demand issuance of degrees to their colleagues, but the police raided their hostels by breaking the doors and windows and manhandled them.

“We have learnt that the vice chancellor has given a free hand to the police to deal with the situation. We were infuriated at the use of brute force and firing in the air because we were expecting to talk out the issue with some senior officials of the university,” they said.

Sources said that the students scuffled with the police who had surrounded the whole campus and also entered the university in large number.

The KUST administration on the other hand alleged that the students were making their demands heard through illegal means and ransacking offices, which forced the VC to seek police`s help.

It was learnt that police would remain deployed in the university till restoration of normalcy.

This correspondent tried to get comments of the KUST administration on the issue, but none of the officials wanted to talk about the incident. When contacted, the controller of examinations said that he did not know anything about the situation as like other staff he had been asked to lock his office from inside.

Mr Murad, the KUST public relations officer, also did not answer calls on his mobile phone since morning.

However, the sources said that negotiations were still going on between the KUST administration and parents of the students for their early release and hundreds of people had thronged the police lines where the protesting students had been detained under strict security. Earlier, they were moved from the Jarma police station, located close to the university, to police lines fearing attack by the students to free their colleagues.

The police said that the students had been booked for attacking the examination section and stopping the candidates from sitting in examinations.

Hospital sources said that the three students and one policeman who had sustained minor injuries had been discharged after first aid.