IHC orders interior secy to address Baloch students’ concerns

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the interior secretary to address the Baloch students’ grievances regarding racial profiling and harassment, reports Geo News.

The court also expressed the hope that President Arif Alvi, as the Chancellor of Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU), would discuss the issue with vice chancellors of Quaid-e-Azam University and other universities and take an appropriate action to mitigate concerns and fears of the Baloch students.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah said in his four-page written order that the state and government officials’ reaction in Baloch students harassment case was really a matter of grave concern.

On the court orders, the interior minister held a meeting with the Baloch students, but it was just a formality. The President of Pakistan, who is the chancellor of the university, has not held any meeting with the Baloch students yet. The deputy attorney general said that a meeting between the president and students had been scheduled, but it could not take place due to some unavoidable circumstances. However, the interior secretary gave a briefing to the president on the issue, he added. The IHC chief justice had also ordered the secretary to the President of Pakistan to submit a report before April 15, the next date of hearing. He also ordered the interior secretary to meet the Baloch students for ensuring their safety, stressing the need for eliminating the fear of harassment or abduction of Baloch students in their province.

The deputy attorney general had informed the court that the president had met the interior secretary regarding safety of the Baloch students and addressing their grievances. He, on account of the current circumstances, sought some time for a meeting of the Baloch students with the president.

Lawyer Zainab Janjua informed the high court that the students were not going to their homes in Balochistan, fearing their abduction there.