PU accuses IJT of hurling life threats to employee

The News 21 Sept 2013 LAHORE: Punjab University (PU) administration on Friday accused the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) activists of “presenting” a bullet to an employee of the varsity and threatening him with life. The administration through its spokesperson condemned the life threats by, what it termed, the “goons” of Jamiat and maintained that the varsity administration would not accept any pressure. The PU spokesperson said that Muhammad Iqbal, senior clerk of the university’s Institute of Communication Studies (ICS) was performing his duties at an admission stall set up at the institute when at about 12:10pm, a “rogue” of IJT came to him and asked his name. The IJT activist then handed over a folded tissue paper and said: “This is something for what you are doing”. Iqbal opened the tissue and found a bullet of pistol. The spokesman said IJT hooligans were continuously threatening and harassing not only senior teachers but female teachers as well. The spokesman said that such negative tactics of IJT could not pressurize PU administration. Meanwhile, a statement issued by the ICS alleged that IJT’s Hafiz Luqman (expelled student) and Abdul Qadeer (a student at PU Law College) had sent the bullet to the senior clerk. It added the bullet had been handed over to the PU security officers. In a separate press statement, the PU Academic Staff Association (PUASA) appealed to the leadership of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) to stop supporting, what it termed, ‘hooliganism’ of IJT. The ASA also asked the JI “not to be tyrant for the children of poor parents who are studying at PU.” The representative body of Punjab University teachers asked the JI why it did not set up IJT offices in its own educational institutions. The ASA asked the JI if it was conspiring against the children of the poor, so that they stopped taking admission to the PU, thus benefiting their (IJ’s) private educational institutions. The ASA said that the average annual fee of the Punjab University was around 20,000 while JI’s private educational institutions’ fee was greater manifold. They said whenever efforts were made to purge the university of non-student elements, the IJT resisted. When an action was taken against the latter, the Jamaat-e-Islami leaders always defended it They said that Academic Staff Association had always condemned activities of student wings of all political parties and played its role to maintain quality education and promotion of research environment at the university. An IJT statement issued here categorically denied hurling life threats and presenting bullet to the ICS employee, terming the same “a pack of lies”.