KARACHI, Aug 21: Six students were wounded when two groups clashed in North Nazimabad on Saturday. Four activists of the All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organization were wounded, one of them seriously , when they were fired upon allegedly by their rival group at a tea shop. They were taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for treatment.

An activist of the Islami Jamiat Talaba also suffered bullet wounds in the clash and was taken to Liaquat National Hospital.

Police said that the brawl began when the activists of APMSO noticed Hayat Khan Tareen of IJT chalking slogans on a wall outside the Homeo Medical College near Jinnah Polytechnic Institute in North Nazimabad. APMSO activists claimed that Hayat was erasing slogans of their party while Hayat claimed that he was chalking new slogans of his party.

Police said that Hayat was beaten severely and was taken to a hospital. Later, IJT activists went to have tea at a nearby Cafe Al-Hussaini.

North Nazimabad TPO Sultan Khuwaja said that APMSO activists reached the cafe where they were fired upon. As a result, four activists of the APMSO - Shan Haider Rizvi, Zeeshan Haider, Syed Fawwad Raza and Iqbal Hussain Rizvi - were wounded. They were taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where the condition of Shan Haider is stated to be serious.

During the episode, Omair Akram of the IJT was also shot at and wounded. He was taken to Liaquat National Hospital, the TPO said.

He said that police arrested eight activists of the IJT - Atif, Saad Nadeem, Mohammad Sulaiman, Mohammad Ali, Imran Hadi, Abdul Rasheed, Ghufran Ahmed and Saifur Rehman - for their involvement in the clash.

The firing at the cafe created a chaos and people ran away to find a shelter. The shops in the locality were shut down immediately after the incident and a heavy contingent of police were deployed there.

Earlier, a clash between the two student groups took place at Government College in Gulshan-i-Iqbal's Block-7.

Gulshan-i-Iqbal TPO Abdul Khaliq Shaikh said that the brawl began on wall-chalking. The IJT submitted an application with the police stating that their three members - Afaq Munir, Owais Hussain and Omair Iqbal - were kidnapped by their rival group. However, he said, the three were later found in the same vicinity.

The TPO said that police were deployed at the college to# avert any eventuality. But, the students gathered at Government Urdu Science College.

ASP Gulshan Noman said that deployment was later made at the Urdu Scince College and students were forced to disperse. He said that no arrest was made at the two troubled colleges.

IJT: The Islami Jamiat Talaba blamed the APMSO of attacking its workers at different educational institutions.

Addressing a press conference at Karachi Press Club, IJT acting nazim Toufiquddin Siddiqui said that the APMSO was out to destroy academic atmosphere at institutions.

He said that APMSO workers came on two motorcycles and three cars at Gulshan College around 12.15pm, tortured IJT activists - Afaq, Omair Iqbal and Idrees - and took them away to Aligarh Institute at gunpoint. After severely injuring the three, APMSO workers left them near NIPA roundabout from where they were taken to a hospital by pedestrians, he added.

Toufiquddin Siddiqui said that some IJT workers were also subjected to violence at Jinnah Polytechnic Institute. He maintained that a group of armed workers, who had gathered at Jinnah Polytechnic, opened indiscriminate firing on IJT workers around 2pm. Omair Akram and Fahad were also shot at by APMSO workers, he alleged.

He said that IJT workers were also targeted at Islamia College, Urdu Science College, City College, and different departments of the University of Karachi.

The District Officer (Colleges), Muhammad Asghar Khan, said that he had been informed that incidents took place outside the educational premises. He said, "We would review the law and order situation at colleges on Monday and if needed the authorities would be requested for deployment of Rangers at colleges where such incidents were feared."

APMSO: The All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organization vowed not to allow any party to turn educational institutions its fortress and make them "No go areas" for others.

Announcing to resist any such attempt, the APMSO chairman Faisal Sabzwari said that the APMSO wanted that educational institutions should remain open as a learning place for everyone.

Mr Sabzwari addressing an emergency press conference at Karachi Press Club referred to the Saturday's incidents in which APMSO activists were targeted and wounded including Shan Haider Rizvi whose condition was stated to be critical at Aga Khan Hospital.

He said that Iqbal Hussain Rizvi, Zeeshan Haider, Syed Fawad Raza suffered bullet wounds from close range and Ali Mehdi was also injured in the clash.

He said that these incidents were not isolated, but, a chain of events. In this connection, he gave details of violence perpetrated since Aug 2 by Islami Jamiat Talaba activists against APMSO members. He claimed that APMSO activists were being targeted as they were determined not to allow anyone disturbing peaceful atmosphere at educational institutions.