Khan was kidnapped on September 7 by members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan when he was going to his office from his residence. — File photo

PESHAWAR: All universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa were shut down for an indefinite period as demonstrations continued to press the government for the recovery of abducted Islamia College University Vice-Chancellor Ajmal Khan, television reports said.

Faculty members and students of various universities boycotted classes and took to streets on Monday, wearing black bands and called for Khan’s recovery.

Earlier, on Sunday, the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) announced an indefinite strike in universities across the province against the non-recovery of the Vice-Chancellor and his driver.

The decision was taken after an emergency meeting of the association was convened following the surfacing of a video footage of Khan, wherein he requested the teachers and students to influence the government for the acceptance of his captors’ demands.

The meeting, chaired by the provincial chief of FAPUASA, Dr Fida Mohammad, discussed the situation emerging after the airing of the said video footage, as the kidnappers had set a deadline of November 20 for the acceptance of their demands.

After the meeting, Dr Fida told media representatives that the strike would continue across the province in all universities.

He added that if the government failed to accept their demand and take any step for Khan’s recovery, the federation would extend the strike to other universities in the country.

Khan was kidnapped on September 7 by members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) when he was going to his office from his residence.

In his first video released last month, he had requested the provincial government and leaders of the Awami National Party (ANP) to get him released.

In the fresh video, released to some private television channels, Professor Khan who has grown a beard, called upon teachers and students of the university and sincere workers of the ANP to call upon the government for the acceptance of his captors’ demands.

Khan, who is related to ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, said he had been in custody all this time and he had earlier requested the government through a video to accept his captors’ demands, but his request fell on deaf ears.