Bacha Khan University closed for indefinite period

Admin asks govt to improve security on campus; seeks licensed weapons for faculty; probe committee records statements of BKU officials

CHARSADDA: The faculty and management of the Bacha Khan University on Monday asked the government to take practical steps for improving the security of its campus.

The university’s Public Relations Officer Saeed Khan Khalil told reporters that a meeting chaired by Vice-Chancellor Professor Fazlur Rahim Marwat announced closure of the university for an indefinite period.

He said the meeting decided that the Bacha Khan University would remain closed for repair work and improvement of security. He said the students’ state of mind and the stress they are facing since the attack along with the bad weather were also factors for closure of the university.

The official said the meeting asked the government to provide licensed weapons to the faculty for self-defence to ensure foolproof security. Demands were also made for deployment of Frontier Constabulary personnel at the university and the provisions of modern weapons to the guards at the varsity.

The meeting asked the government to provide scanners, metal detectors and funds for raising the boundary walls of the university.The meeting also demanded the services of a retired colonel to serve as security chief of the university.

The university spokesman Saeed Khan Khalil said the meeting asked the government to widen the single lane road and make it two-way from Charsadda city to the university and construct an interchange from the Motorway to the varsity.

Meanwhile, the Students Society of the Bacha Khan University staged protest against the attack. Led by the society’s president Ihtishamul Haq, the protesting students asked the government to hand over the security of the university to the security forces.

The students demanded hanging of the facilitators of the recent attacks at public places. They said the government had failed to restore peace in the country. “The politicians have been provided foolproof security while the students were left at the mercy of terrorists,” one of the protesters said.

The students vowed to seek higher education to defeat the nefarious designs of the terrorists.Meanwhile, the three-member committee probing the Bacha Khan University (BKU) attack recorded the statements of the university officials on Monday.

The commissioner of Peshawar chaired the meeting in this connection at the university campus. Regional Police Officer Saeed Wazir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Secretary Education Syed Ghafoor Baig Hamid, Deputy Commissioner Charsadda Tahir Zafar Abbasi and District Police Officer Charsadda Sohail Khalid attended the meeting.

The committee recorded the statements of the Provost Dr Farhad, Registrar Dr Hamidullah, Dr Shakeel, Security In-charge Muhammad Ashfaq Khan, PRO Saeed Khan and In-charge Information Technology Shah Faisal.