KARACHI: A tense calm prevails on the campus of Karachi University following violent clashes between two student organisations that have created an environment of fear among students, particularly the freshers, some of whom are preferring to stay at home until things settle down.

On Jan 15, hundreds of newly enrolled students experienced a breakdown of law and order on the campus when they came to the university on their very first day of learning.

Activists of the Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba (IJT) and Imamia Students Organisation (ISO) were reportedly involved in the clashes.

Initially, the KU administration tried to control the situation on its own but when on Jan 17 the two groups fought again for the third time in as many days the administration summoned the police who arrested more than 20 students from both sides and registered FIRs against them.

Many videos of the clashes had gone viral on social media and one of them showed some students, wearing helmets, severely beating a student in the main library building.

Students, especially females, say their parents are worried, expect administration to ensure peaceful academic environment

The students expressed their concerns over the deteriorating security condition on the campus after Dawn approached them.

A first-year student said she hadn’t told her parents about the violent clashes that took place on the campus as they would become worried about her. She said she was just trying to concentrate on her studies and managing her new schedule at the university.

Concerned over the situation, a psychology student said they had received messages in their WhatsApp group that some parents were not ready to send their daughters to the university at present and, therefore, some female students remained absent. She said such clashes had subsided in the past few years, but maybe the current incidents had something to do with the upcoming elections.

A group of students from the school of law also shared their views. One of them said that the recent clashes had created an environment of fear as some of his new friends of first year were unwilling to come to the varsity.

He said clashes used to happen in the university in the past as well but had increased recently while another student added that unlike the past, the recent ones were appeared to be premeditated as many people from both sides had come prepared for a fight.

Administration criticised for law, order breakdown

While the university administration had imposed a ban on activities of student organisations, many students believed that it was not the solution to end violence.

They said that student organisations were important, particularly in producing future leaders. However, there was a general view that the administration was not doing enough to ensure the peaceful academic environment on the campus.

Associate Professor and KU syndicate member Dr Riaz Ahmed told Dawn one reason behind such violent clashes was that the student bodies, particularly the IJT and ISO, showed their ‘power’ through such fights to make their presence felt so that they do not become irrelevant.

A student from the English department said the university administration was not paying attention to security and education as it was busy in its internal and issues and ‘politics’.

Furthermore, he said one of the reasons why the KU administration never took timely and strict disciplinary action against such elements was that such organisations also ‘served’ the university administration as they kept protests of teachers and students against the university administration under control.

Commenting over the role of Rangers responsible for security on the campus, Dr Ahmed said they were ‘not doing their duties properly’ as they mostly arrived at such fights late, giving the saboteurs enough time to do what they want.

Many ‘outsiders’ among held students

When contacted, a KU official said that the credentials of all those held after the clash were being verified and it appeared that many of them were ‘outsiders’.

Campus Security Adviser Dr Salman Zubair said this would be confirmed only after completion of the verification process.

He said the university would take the required disciplinary action against them when their verification and other investigations were completed.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2024