IIU students hint at protests against semester closure and higher charges

Islamabad :After the Qauid-i-Azam University, trouble is brewing at another major university of the capital.

Academic and administrative activities had remained suspended at the QAU for more than two weeks until Friday due to a strike by students, who demanded the immediate restoration of their colleagues expelled over the recent campus violence, provision of facilities and reduction of fee.

Taking a cue from that agitation, the International Islamic University students, too, have hinted at protesting the administration’s recent decisions to close down summer semester, close hostels during summer vacation, and increase transport, lab and degree charges.

Recently, the IIU board of governors, in a bid to minimise the university’s budgetary deficit, took many decisions, inclusion closure of summer semester with few exceptions, closure of hostels during summer vacation, increase in transport charges from Rs1,500 per semester to Rs2,500, lab development charges from Rs1,500 per semester to Rs3,000 per semester and transport development charges to Rs2,500 per semester, revision of the merit scholarships criteria from 4/4 GPA to 4/4 CGPA, and restoration of degree fee.

The decisions didn’t sit well with the students, who first complained about them under their breadth but have now begun venting out their anger publicly. Moving a step forward, the Islamian United Students Federation, a grouping of the IIU students, have threatened protests against the board’s decisions.

IUSF senior vice chairman Sajid Kaleem told ‘The News’ that the federation had taken up the matter with the administration, which had promised ‘corrective measures’ by next Monday. “We will wait until the start of next week. If the administration doesn’t withdraw the board’s unjustified decisions, build new hostels without delay, introduce online degree clearance system, open the campus’s gate towards I-10 sector and check humiliation of students by guards in the name of security checks by then, then we’ll agitate,” he said.

The IUSF leader said the students were united and would use all peaceful means to claim rights. Spokesman for the university Syed Hassan Aftab neither answered repeated calls of this correspondent nor did he respond to texts.