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JIT report exposes role of university admin, police, PkSF

By Yousaf Ali
June 07, 2017

Mashal lynching case

PESHAWAR: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report on Mashal Khan murder case in Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan has exposed the incompetence of the university administration, failure of the police and the presence of criminal mindset in the ranks of Pakhtun Students Federation (PkSF).

According to the report, Mashal Khan, a brilliant six-semester student of journalism with deep insight of the student rights and matters pertaining to the university administration, used to speak openly about the administrative problems and other issues in the university. Days before his brutal murder, he set up a protest camp outside the university to press the government for early resolution of various problems in the university, especially appointment of vice-chancellor.

His campaign to highlight the university problems not only earned him animosity of the university administration but also annoyed the powerful students and employees groups in the university.

Ajmal Mayar, an accused in the Mashal murder case, is a graduate of the same university. He is also a former president of PkSF and was the president of the university employees union at the time of the occurrence. He made a startling confession before the JIT.

“About a month before the incident, Sabir Mayar (president PkSF) and Asad Katlang came to my office and told me that Mashal Khan needs to be removed from the way as he is dangerous for our party,” he said. Sabir Mayar and Asad Katlang are absconding after the incident, the report said.

The report also pointed out severe administrative problems, violation of merit and unnecessary recruitment in the university. It said that two to three persons have been recruited against every seat in the university. Overstaffing has resulted in the inflated fees and other charges in the university compared to other universities in the province.

Named after the late Rahbar-e-Tehreek of Awami National Party (ANP), the Abdul Wali Khan University is considered as the stronghold of the ANP and its student wing, PkSF. So strong was the party’s influence on the university administration that majority of the appointments in the university were made under the influence of its local leadership.

Founding vice-chancellor of the University Prof Dr Ihsan Ali was known for making appointments in the university at the behest of every influential person. The unnecessary recruitments, in many cases under-qualified and incompetent persons, were one of the major causes of the tragic incident.

The JIT in its report clearly mentions that scores of employees of the university had criminal record in the past. This also shows the incompetence of the current Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, which too badly failed in the past four years of its rule in the province to take steps for overcoming the wrongdoings in the public sector universities, especially in the Abdul Wali Khan University.

The role of PkSF in the murder of Mashal Khan is very cruel. It shows that the so-called champions of liberalism, progressive politics and non-violence can go to any extent for their personal and party interests. It is, however, encouraging that the ANP disowned its workers allegedly involved in the incident and demanded indiscriminate action against all those involved in the murder of Mashal Khan.

Another important issue is the government’s failure to run the universities’ affairs in an effective manner. The current government has badly failed to take the right steps for reforming the seats of higher learning despite the rulers’ tall claims.

During the past four years, the provincial government only focused on legislation for the universities, which too turned out to be flawed enough and had to be amended repeatedly.

Most of the universities remained without regular heads for long periods of time during the rule of the PTI-led coalition government. Even today 13 universities in the province are functioning under caretaker administration. So was the case of Abdul Wali Khan University, which didn’t even have an acting vice-chancellor at the time of Mashal’s lynching at the campus in broad daylight.

The incident also exposed the role of police, which the PTI government often claims has been reformed and made into an exemplary force. The JIT though recommended formation of a high-powered committee to look into the police role during the incident and its failure to save Mashal’s life.

An effort has been seemingly made to cover the poor performance of the police by saying that they had not been informed well in time and that the university administration had not told them about the sensitivity and seriousness of the situation. The police have also been given credit for saving Abdullah and Zubair, the other two students accused of committing blasphemy along with Mashal, and preventing the torching of Mashal’s body. However, serious questions have been raised over the police role as well. Policemen had arrived well in time at the campus and the constables could be seen in the video footages of the incident doing nothing right from the start of the first protest procession till Mashal’s murder and desecration of his body.