Author Topic: Imamia Students Organisation protest at Karachi University  (Read 1583 times)

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Imamia Students Organisation protest at Karachi University
« on: March 12, 2009, 09:28:14 PM »
Imamia Students Organisation protest at Karachi University

Graffiti at KU sparks protest


Karachi: All academic activities came to a halt at Karachi University on Wednesday when groups of students made their way into classes and forced fellow students and teachers to leave.

The students were protesting against the university administration for failing to take action against those responsible for inscribing university walls with sectarian remarks on Sunday night.

The protesting students, belonging to the Imamia Students Organisation (ISO), later staged a sit-in in front of the administration block for several hours. The agitation finally came to an end following a meeting between the aggrieved party and the vice chancellor of the university, who announced the setting up of a three-member committee to investigate the case.

It is worth noting that the academic environment at KU has remained tense since Monday morning, when the slogans were first discovered at several locations on the campus, including the administration block, where a watchman is posted round the clock.

According to sources, the incident occurred late on Sunday night. The watchman at the administration block was reportedly involved in a scuffle with one of the accused, but the offender managed to escape.

Though the authorities whitewashed the walls to cover up the hate graffiti early on Monday morning, the painting had been done so poorly that all of the inscriptions were still readable. The remarks were finally removed a day later, and some students used the space to write pro-unity slogans.

Khalid Iraqi, advisor to the VC on security affairs, said that the shift in-charge has been suspended and the watchman posted at the administration block has been served with a show-cause notice. The watchman admitted to seeing some boys writing on the walls, but he didn't inform any of his superiors.

"The immediate necessary actions have been taken and further investigation would now be done by a three-member committee. The Rangers have also been asked to do patrolling," he said.

About the strength of the KU's watch and wards department, he said that there were about 130 employees. Of them, 60 to 65 are present in one shift.

"They are watchmen. They have no weapons and no sticks. They have no wireless [communication sets] to communicate directly with the Rangers, though they can use the department phone numbers for the purpose," he said, adding that the Rangers were on call and performed duties at specific points in the morning and afternoon. Dawn