HYDERABAD, March 7: A student was killed and two others were wounded when a rival group opened fire on them on the Sindh University campus on Wednesday, provoking condemnations and protests by educationists and politicians.
A group of students was celebrating Holi with their Hindu colleagues near the arts faculty park when another group fired at them, seriously wounding Din Mohammad Dal of BS (IT) part-II, Abdul Ghafoor Nohani of BS (psychology) part-II and Kamran Lashari (rural development) part-II.
The shooting took place in the presence of security personnel. The culprits escaped as they fired into the air.
All the three wounded students were taken to the Liaquat University Hospital in Jamshoro, where Din Mohammad Dal, 28, belonging to the Jeay Sindh Students Federation (B), died.
Abdul Ghafoor Nohani was reported to be in a critical condition.
Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mohaz leader Akash Mallah, Jeay Sindh Tehreek leader Usman Khoso and JSSF activists of all groups from different universities rushed to the hospital. JSSF activists staged protest sit-ins on the Indus Highway and the Superhighway.
SU administration
The Sindh University administration, deans of faculties, members of the syndicate and representatives of the Sindh University Teachers Association (Suta) condemned the killing of Din Mohammad Dal and wounding of the two other students.
The acting vice chancellor, Dr Parveen Shah, with registrar Dr Mohammad Ilyas Rajput and other officials also rushed to the hospital. She talked to students and assured them that the university would make all-out efforts for the arrest of the killers.
The acting vice chancellor convened a meeting of the deans of faculties, which was also attended by Jamshoro SSP Farooq Ahmed Jamali, DSP Ghulam Rasool Panhwar, representatives of the Rangers and other officials.
The meeting condemned the firing incident and demanded the immediate arrest of culprits. The SSP assured the university administration that culprits would be arrested soon.
The meeting decided to observe three-day mourning, but said teaching activities would continue. It also decided to cancel admission of the students suspected to be involved in the shooting. It was further decided that police would arrest any student found in possession of arms.
The meeting also decided to allocate a parking space for private vehicles at the ‘zero point’ of the campus, and no private vehicle would be allowed to enter the area of teaching departments. A shuttle bus will be run to pick and drop students at the zero point.
Mourning
The registrar of Sindh University notified on Wednesday that three-day mourning beginning on Thursday would be observed in the university over the killing of its student, Din Mohammad Dal. However, all academic activities in the teaching institutes and departments would continue.
The registrar further notified the immediate cancellation of admission of Zahoor Hussain Malan, a student of BCom (honours), for his alleged involvement in the firing that resulted in the death of Din Mohammad Dal and wounds to Abdul Ghafoor Nohani and Kamran Lashari.
The notification further said that the particulars of the other involved students — Jhando Brohi and Haban Chandio — were not available in the university record and it seemed they had concealed their names to cover up their activities.
As soon as their original names were verified, their admissions would also be cancelled immediately, the registrar said.
Murder condemned
The murder of Sindh University student Din Mohammad Dal was widely condemned by leaders of various political parties.
JSQM chairman Basheer Khan Qureshi announced three days of mourning throughout the province to protest against the murder and demanded the immediate arrest of culprits.
JSQM-R chairman Riaz Chandio said whenever the Pakistan People’s Party came into power, retired people were reappointed to destroy educational atmosphere in Sindh.
The others who condemned the murder included Jeay Sindh Tehreek chairman Safdar Sarki, JSQM-A chairman Abdul Wahid Arisar, Awami Tahreek president Ayaz Latif Palijo and Jamaat-i-Islami Sindh chief Maulana Asadullah Bhutto.
Suta president Mohammad Nawaz Narejo termed the murder a conspiracy to destroy education in the premier university.
A joint meeting of Suta and Sindh University Employees Association condemned the murder of the student and said the reasons behind this murder were the same as were for the murder of Prof Bashir Channar.
The teachers and employees decided to observe seven-day mourning, when they would hoist black flags and wear black armbands. They reiterated their four demands, including the immediate termination of the services of vice chancellor Dr Mughal.
Meanwhile, activists of the SST, SSO and JSSF-A took out a protest rally in Mehar against the murder of the Sindh University student.
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