Torture on protesting students: Students rally to demand punishment for culprits

PESHAWAR: Students of the University of Peshawar on Thursday staged a protest to press the government to implement a parliamentary committee’s report about the police torture on protesting students in the university.

The protest was arranged at a time when provincial Senior Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Shahram Khan Tarakai was visiting the university to attend the concluding session of the three-day international conference on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) at the China Study Centre on the campus.

The minister, after attending the programme, visited the protesting students and assured them that the parliamentary committee report would be fully implemented. The university campus police had tortured the protesting students of the university in October last year, following which the provincial government had formed a parliamentary committee to probe the matter and recommend action.

The committee submitted its report in January, holding the university administration and police responsible for the matter. The committee recommended the removal of junior officers serving against senior positions. The government was recommended to fill all the administrative positions in the university under the principle of “right person for the right job.

The provost office was specifically targetted in the report as a BS-18 officer was serving as provost on a post of BS-20. The assistant provosts were also junior and ex-cadre.

The committee also recommended immediate removal of the university’s chief security officer and the abolition of his office. However, the government failed to implement those recommendations.