Police lathicharge on protesting Peshawar university students was grave injustice, says student who took part in agitation

On Thursday, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police in Pakistan lathicharged students who were demanding a rollback of a fee hike and redressal of sexual harassment and corruption cases against professors at University of Peshawar. The university administration claims that the protesters who gathered at the university were not students, but reports claim otherwise. This is a first person account of a student leader from Islami Jamiat Tulba (IJT), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, who took part in the protests. On 4 October 2018, we, the students of University of Peshawar had gathered inside the campus to peacefully protest against the university’s anti-student activities. We had a single goal — to persuade the university administration to sit with us and discuss an early resolution of our issues. There were three issues at hand — first, rollback of the sudden fee hike for the second semester, second, action against rampant corruption within the university, and third, bringing professors accused of sexual harassment to justice. Our protest started with a sit-in at the administrative compound of the university campus. But after hours of sitting in, no one from the university came forward to discuss the issues. It was then that we decided to gather at an empty road leading to the university, hoping to gain their attention. But instead of initiating a dialogue over our demands, the administration called the police, which came with a single purpose — to inflict as much damage as possible. When the police came, the person in-charge waved at us and told us to not move ahead. So, we started conveying the message to other students behind us, and asked the students to sit-in instead of moving ahead. Now, one may ask, if assault was really the intent, why did they ask us to sit down? [caption id=“attachment_5327521” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Students at the University of Peshawar. Image procured by Asfandyar Khan.[/caption] Because, while we were busy telling the students to sit in, the police were waiting for other members of their squad to arrive at the spot. And once they had the numbers, they began assaulting us. Several of us were injured in the violence perpetrated by the police, several of us were arrested as well. Some like me managed to escape unhurt and tell the media about the incident. What happened was grave injustice, and that too at the hands of a government which came to power on the promise of change, and the promise of bringing an end to corruption. The university didn’t stop with this act of violence. After the attack on the students, the administration engaged in spreading lies — they said that those protesting at University of Peshawar were anti-social elements who had gathered to attack. That those spearheading the protests were not students, but, in fact, terrorists. These are lies. The protests were called in advance by Muttahida Tulaba Mahaz, an organisation formed by all student bodies, and was attended by members of Pukhtoon Students Federation (PSF), the student wing of Awami National Party (ANP); Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Islami Jamiat Tulba (IJT), Muslim Students Federation (MSF) as well as well as ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s student wing Insaf Students Federation. One of the injured student, whose bloodied images have gone viral on social media, is in fact wearing a pin of ISF on his chest. If the protests were led by anti-social elements, why were members of ISF also part of them? The two student leaders — Sohail Mabood and Bilal Buneri — who were leading the protests and who were called outsiders by UOP are students of the university. Buneri only recently wrote his examination at the university. The administration also argues that Section 144 was enforced. However, just three days before the students’ sit-in protest, there was another sit-in of class four and class three associations, but they weren’t lathicharged. We were not carrying any guns or weapons to attack the university administration or the police. All that we had were ball point pens in our pockets and notebooks in our hands. Do they look like weapons? But then, the lies of the university administration do not come as a surprise to us. It has been lying constantly lying, tarnishing the image and reputation of students of the university. In July, it reported to the government that alcoholics and terrorists, including members of Islamic State, have taken control of the university hostel. Sometimes, it says that Islamic State has taken over 112 rooms, sometimes it claims the number to be 711. The administration even sent six encounter specialists to the university hostel to intimidate students. They would openly say that they would encounter terrorists. The university is creating an environment of fear among its students. Let’s say these allegations are true, but then, what are the in-campus Peshawar University Police and Khyber House Force, which is located adjacent to the campus, doing? Over 350 students have already been arrested on false charges. The question then arises as to why the university stooped to this low, and why were the students attacked on 4 October. The root of all this is: corruption. Only recently, an antique item which fetches significant remuneration for the university through international exhibitions was illegally sold for Rs 6 crore. Luckily, the item was recovered by the FIA before it could leave Pakistan. Besides this, there are three professors in the university, who have time and again used their position to sexually harass girls from poor backgrounds who are unable to pay fees. The students recently submitted a dossier of documents to the National Accountability Court detailing the various allegations of corruption and sexual harassment against university officials and professors. The NAB has already announced that it is registering a reference (case) based on the dossier. The attacks on students and the fee hikes are part of tactics to pressurise students. We were peacefully protesting, yet the police attacked us. But we are not ready to give up. The protests have spread across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We have already had over 50 sit-ins in all the districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since Thursday. As told to Hassan M Kamal Asfandyar Khan is a student leader associated with the Islami Jamiat Tulba (IJT), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami