PU blames Sindh Council for 'chaos' during Holi celebration

The Sindh Council was deemed responsible for the clash at the Punjab University which left several students injured on Tuesday, the varsity's Chief Security Officer Colonel (retd) Obaid said.

According to the security officer, the Sindh Council tried celebrating Holi at the PU Law College by “provoking” students from the Hindu community to participate in the function.

Videos of clashes within the university went viral on social media earlier today in which students were seen being chased and beaten, while their attackers picked up stones to hit them.

“The Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) has no involvement in this incident,” the security chief said.

Following the accusations, students of the Sindh Council held a protest in front of the Vice Chancellor's office today and attacked the security guards, he said.

He also clarified that the security guards retaliated to protect themselves and no students were injured — contrary to the news circulating on social media.

Members of the Sindh Council claimed that they had indeed taken permission from the administration to celebrate Holi together.

“Members of the council are more in the law college but were stopped,” Sindh Council member Kashif revealed.

“When we went to register our protest in front of the VC’s office, we were violently attacked,” he added.

He further added that students of the Sindh Council and those hailing from the Hindu community were injured due to the violence of security guards.

IJT refutes 'allegations'

However, the Jamiat had denied these allegations, saying: “None of our members was involved in the violence of students celebrating Holi at the Punjab University.”

They further said that the varsity administration had allocated a place for Hindu students to celebrate Holi.

“Baseless accusations are being levelled against us,” the spokesperson for the IJT concluded.

'Hindu students deliberately misused'

Regarding the matter, a spokesperson for the Punjab University said that there had been no clash nor was any Hindu student injured.

“Students hailing from another province and linked to a nationalist organisation have deliberately misused the name of Hindu students for their ‘aims’.”

The statement clarified that Hindu students have been allocated a spot near the university’s gymnasium and the Hindu students had assented.

“However, students of the nationalist party had forcefully tried to change the location to the Law College, bringing with them speakers and other equipment. “This proves that the incident was created to promote mischief in the university.”

The spokesperson also said that no student — Hindu or otherwise — was injured.

“However, when the students from the nationalist party crowded the VC’s office, the security guards tried to break them up. This led to a clash, but no students were injured here either.”

“All minorities openly celebrate their festivals in the university and the university administration provides full support to them. The facts of the incident reveal that it was orchestrated by those who want to create a disturbance at the university,” the statement concluded.