Angry students lock down BKU,seek shaheed package for victims

CHARSADDA: The angry students of the Bacha Khan University (BKU) Wednesday locked down the institution in protest against the government for not honouring its pledge for providing shaheed package to the victims of January 20 attack.

Led by students’ union president Adnan Khan, the students gathered at the main entrance to the university and locked the gates. The protesters did not allow anyone to enter the campus, including faculty members and administrative staff.

Chanting slogans against the government, the protesters asked it to fulfill its pledge of providing shaheed package to the families of the university’s attack victims on a par with the one given to the families of the Army Public School in Peshawar.

They also asked the government to form a judicial commission to probe the incident. They said the government had yet to make the promised reimbursement of fee to the students. They claimed that a bank account had been opened by the university to collect donations in the name of the victims.

The protesters said that donations had been made into the account from abroad, but the families of those who were killed and injured in the attack were kept in the dark. Vice-Chancellor Fazlur Rahim Marwat held a meeting with the protesting students and assured them that their reservations would be addressed within 10 days. The students dispersed peacefully after getting assurance from the vice-chancellor. However, they warned of launching a protest campaign if their demands were not met till March 20.