PU students, newsmen thrashed again

The Punjab University (PU) on Monday once again was turned into a torture house when its security guards resorted to violence and thrashed protesting students of the university’s Institute of Plant Pathology (IPP) in the presence of the PU officials, including the vice chancellor.
This time, the PU guards not only manhandled media men but also damaged cameras of two journalists, mocking ‘the independence of media’. The media men, belonging to a local TV channel and a newspaper, submitted an application to the Muslim Town Police Station, seeking registration of an FIR against the top PU officials for manhandling and damaging their equipments. On October 29, dozens of PU security guards had thrashed a number of protesting IPP students, besides manhandling some journalists covering the protest.
On Monday, over three dozen students of the IPP marched from the institute and reached the VC Office at New Campus, making demands, including immediate induction of relevant, sufficient faculty and reinstatement of expelled students.
VC Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran tried to address the studentsí grievances but to no avail. All of a sudden, the security guards started trashing the students, without differentiation between male and female. They even manhandled some media men covering the incident. The electronic equipment of the media men was also slightly damaged during the incident. Some students, including Hafiz Riaz, Atif, Maroof, Adnan and Jahangir, were also injured. However, with no fear of the thrashing guards, the students did not escape the scene. They held a prolonged sit-in in front of the VC Office. A number of journalists present also protested against the treatment meted out to them.
Afterwards, police also reached the scene. Students did not leave the place until, in a meeting with PU officials, they were once again assured of the early resolution of the issue. The PU officials, including Prof Dr Muhammad Amin Athar, held talks with representatives of the IPP students, who were told that the institute’s incharge, Dr Ghazala Nasim, had been transferred.