CHARSADDA: The Bacha Khan University reopened on Monday after the 26 days closure prompted by a terrorist attack, which killed 18 students and staff members, including a professor.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Fazal Rahim Marwat, dean Dr Abdul Sattar Khan, registrar Hamidullah, heads of all departments and senior faculty members welcomed students on arrival.

Civil society activists and students from various educational institutions were also in attendance.

No government or district administration representative was present on the occasion.

The vice-chancellor said he was delighted to see the students show up in large numbers.

He said the large turnout showed that the morale of students was high and that they considered education their top priority.

Mr. Marwat said the Jan 20 terrorist attack on the university had reinforced the importance of peace and education in the minds of students instead of creating fears.

VC says large turnout shows students’ morale is high and they consider education their top priority

He said unfortunately, some institutions and personalities didn’t bother to express solidarity with the university students and staff members.

He however didn’t name names.

The spokesman for the university, Said Khan Khalil, told reporters that the administration had reopened the campus after taking all kinds of security precautions.

He said CCTV cameras had been installed on campus, watchtowers were being built after every 100 meters, and purchase of modern weapons for guards was underway.

The spokesman said the administration had interviewed ex-servicemen for hiring as guards.

The students said terrorist attacks couldn’t stop them from coming to the university.

Botany department student Amna said though fresh security checks were in place, she felt they’re not sufficient in the wake of the Jan 20 terrorist attack.

Other girl students, Samina Tahsin and Wajeeh Begum, welcomed the reopening of the university.

They said the attack was a conspiracy to keep Pakhtun youths especially girls away from education.

The girls however said their morale was high and that ‘such cowardly acts’ couldn’t stop them from going to educational institutions.

Ihtishamul Haq, Basit Ali and Adnan Khan said the history was proved that Pakhtuns had never yielded to such ‘cheap tactics of the enemy.’

They urged the administration to make ‘foolproof security arrangements’ on campus. She said the government should take the university’s security seriously and provide foolproof security to the students and staff members.

Meanwhile, special assistant to the chief minister on higher education Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani met the vice-chancellor and expressed solidarity with faculty members and students.

He later told reporters that he had so far not received the report of the committee probing the university’s attack.

Mr. Ghani said the government would see whether those blamed in the report were at fault or not.

He said the report was with the chief minister and that a high-level discussion had yet to take place on it.

Also in the day, ANP general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan VC Dr Ihsan Ali and civil society representatives met Dr. Marwat.

Mian Iftikhar said students and staff members resented at the prime minister not visiting the university.

He said the prime minister should immediately visit the campus and announce a special financial package for it.

The ANP leader said the slow implementation of the National Action Plan on security was leading to the regrouping of terrorists in the country.

“The NAP needs to be revisited. A meeting should be convened for this purpose,” he said.

Also, the Students Union Society Charsadda and parents of the Army Public School Peshawar attack demonstrated on the occasion.

They demanded compensation for the university students and staff members, who died in the attack, like the one announced for the APS attack victims.

The demonstrators warned if their demands were not met, they would block the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway and protest outside the National Assembly.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2016