September 28th, 2021
By Hamid Riaz
LAHORE
On September 28th the Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad once again became embroiled in controversy after videos of the Quaidian Students’ Federation (QSF), the university’s premier student body, clashing with the University’s Academic Staff Association surfaced on social media.
Students had been protesting fee hikes, which they claim have increased by some 35 September 20. The QAU campus was placed under lockdown by the students on September 25 after the administration failed to take their demands seriously.
Instead of listening to the students the university responded by issuing a notification calling for the resumption of classes despite the protest and declared that the protestors were not in fact students but miscreants, infuriating the students.
The students responded by gathering at their protest site at night and chanting slogans against the university administration.
During these fresh rallies members of the University’s faculty including Izhar Nair posted public videos and pictures on social media claiming that the students had attacked the university’s server room cutting the campus off from the internet and causing about 120 million in damages to the administration.
Following these assertions, the academic staff association carried out a ‘Peace Walk’ on campus which resulted in the clash from this morning.
Sources close to both the faculty and the protesting students assert that a possible reason behind the clash is the students’ opposition to the admin’s decision to give dual posts to faculty members.
According to this new scheme certain members of the faculty will be given additional administrative charges. An action which the students claim will give too much power to the faculty and will result in them snubbing the students.
The situation may accelerate further as students have refused to back down from their protest while the faculty association has called for a QAU wide faculty strike until the expulsion of ‘violent elements’ from campus hostels.
