Students block Faizabad Interchange

RAWALPINDI: Hundreds of students of different public and private educational institutions on Saturday occupied Faizabad Interchange to demand cancellations of physical annual examinations.

Police used teargas shelling and baton charge to disperse protesters. The students also pelted stones over police officials and raising full throated slogans against government.

A large number of students occupied Faizabad Interchange to suspend all kinds of traffic coming from Expressway, highway and Murree Road. The students were demanding cancellation of physical examinations. Massive traffic rush could be seen here in Rawalpindi and Islamabad due to protest demonstration.

Finally after hectic efforts, the students dispersed after holding successful negotiations with the district administration. The police, however, detained some students, but have not yet decided to register FIR against them.

Earlier, several students became unconscious on the occasion due to heavy teargas shelling and baton charge by police contingent to disperse them. While, over three hundred motorcycles of the students were seized by police of different police stations.

The Metro Bus Service (MBS) was suspended during protest demonstration to avoid any untoward incident.

The protesting students said the educational institutions had conducted online classes due to closure of schools/colleges because of the coronavirus pandemic. They said the schools/ colleges also had not completed the syllabus of their different courses but now the government was pressing for physical exams.

They also said the colleges had closed their hostels and the students of other cities did not have any place to live and how they could prepare and appear in examinations.

While commenting on the fee issues, the students said the private institutes had charged thousands of rupees as fee and had not completed the syllabus. “How they could appear in exams,” they said.

The motorists and common citizens faced worst situation due to protest demonstration. The motorists used alternative routes to reach their proper destinations.

A heavy police contingent reached and threatened the students to end the protest otherwise cases under terrorism charges would be registered against them. But, angry students were not ready to call off strike.

The angry students damaged different vehicles by stoning at running traffic and hitting with batons. The police claimed that at least ten vehicles, including motorcycles, damaged, adding that the police resorted to lathi-charge and threw teargas shells to disperse the protesting students.