Teachers, students to protest today against authorities’ slackness

Karachi
The students of the University of Karachi will stage a rally on its premises on Tuesday (today) to protest against the lack of progress in assistant professor Waheed-ur-Rehman’s murder case and also push the varsity’s management to take up the issue with the law enforcement agencies.
However, the teachers of the university too have decided to participate in the rally that will be held from the KU administration block to the Silver Jubilee Gate, irking the organising students.
“The teachers’ participation means that they will be in the front row and the whole idea of pressing the university’s management will take a backseat,” said a student of the mass communication department, requesting anonymity.
“The rally is supposed to give a wakeup call to police as well as the university’s management so that they don’t go slack on the issue.”
Professor Rehman was gunned down on the morning of April 29. The 42-year-old was an assistant professor at the KU’s mass communication department and targeted by some men riding motorcycles near the Karachi Institute of Heat Diseases in Block 16 of Federal B Area near his residence in Lateef Square Apartments.

Black armbands
The teachers of the university wore black armbands on Monday while conducting their classes to mourn the killing of the professor.
Besides, fateha khawani was organised for him at the mass communication department and then the classes were suspended. Since the professor’s murder, classes have remained suspended at the department.
On the recommendation of the acting head of the department, Professor Dr Mehmood Ghaznavi, the campus’ security affairs adviser, Dr Zubair, has locked down the late professor’s room so that any clue that police might useful remains untouched.

Police’s scheduled visit
However, the police officers, who have been assigned the task of solve the murder case, still have not turned up at the campus for investigation even though they were scheduled to do so.
“The investigating officers were supposed to arrive at the campus but they haven’t done so yet. We don’t know why they have skipped the visit as they haven’t informed the KU administrator or anyone else at the campus,” KU campus officer Muhammad Asif told The News.
He added that it was possible that police were working on some solid lead and they did not find it necessary to visit the campus.
“Hopefully, they will arrive here in a day or two and visit the mass communication department, the administration block and other places.”
A team of senior policemen had earlier visited the university and talked with many university officials including vice chancellor Professor Dr Muhammad Qaiser.

No clue yet
A member of the investigation team, Nisar Ahmed Qureshi, who is posted as the Station Investigation Officer at the Yousuf Plaza Police Station, conceded that police had been unable to find any solid clue in the case so far. “We are in a blind spot and, at this point, no solid leads have been found.”
But he asserted that the investigators were working hard on the case and the killers would soon be arrested.
The investigation team comprises SSP West district Arab Maher, Azizabad sub-divisional police officer Aijazuddin, Yousuf Plaza SHO Muhammad Akram Arain and station investigation officer Nisar Ahmed Qureshi.
The KUTS, in collaboration with the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association, had issued a 15-day deadline to the Sindh government to apprehend the culprits, form a judicial commission to probe the murder, offer Rs50 million as compensation to Dr Rehman’s family and offer a job to a family member of the deceased.
In the latest development, however, the Sindh Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) Secretary Syed Mansoor Abbas Rizvi had approached KUTS President Dr Jamil Kazmi with a request to withdraw the ultimatum. As per the KUTS chief, the request was, however, politely declined.

Protest outside KPC
Teachers and students of the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (Fuuast), civil society activists and journalists demanded of the authorities on Monday to apprehend the killers of Dr Waheedur Rehman, a teacher of the Karachi University’s mass communication department, who was gunned down in Dastagir last week.
Fuuast students organised a protest outside the Karachi Press Club, in which dozens of teachers, journalists and civil society activists, displaying placards, banners and shouting slogans against the culprits, participated.
Dr Tauseef Ahmed Khan, the former head of the mass communication department at Fuuast and former colleague of Rehman, said the government had failed to protect teachers in the city.
“It seems the law enforcement agencies are not taking the murder of Rehman seriously. The murder resembles Dr Shakil Auj’s murder, whose killers are still at large,” he said while speaking to the protesters.
He said the teachers’ fraternity could not work at campuses without fear and it was very important to arrest Rehman’s killers.
Recalling slain teacher’s services, Khan said he had made a great contribution to the development of various institutions, particularly the Department of Mass Communication.
Senior journalist Khursheed Tanveer said Rehman was also a journalist and activist who struggled for the journalists’ rights. “The anti-peace elements are killing teachers, journalists and intellectuals in broad daylight and the government has failed to protect them in the city,” he said.
The participants also demanded that the government should provide Rs50 million as compensation to the victim’s family and offer them government jobs.
They also demanded naming the road from Water Pump to UBL roundabouts after Rehman.
Akhter Hussain Baloch, council member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Dr Azadi Fateh, a teacher at Fuuast, Manzoor Razi, prominent trade union leader, and other civil society activists also participated.