IJT flouts PU policy, holds rally on campus

Students from the Islami Jamiat Taleba (IJT) on Friday took out a rally on the premises of Punjab University in an apparent show of strength in the wake of a clash between rival groups on the university's campus earlier this week.

Clashes ensued on March 21 after members of the IJT allegedly gatecrashed a Pakhtun cultural event held at the university premises in Lahore in an attempt to halt the proceedings.

At least 10 students were injured, and a heavy contingent of police intervened in the clash and used tear gas to disperse the violent crowd.

The rally being carried out today is a violation of orders that were issued by PU administration in the wake of the clash.

The PU administration in a new policy had said that all necessary steps are being taken on an urgent basis to de-politicise the student wings in the university, and that no student faction with links to any political party would be allowed to operate on campus.

The administration also declared that no ethnic, political or sectarian students group would be allowed to hold any programme in the PU or on the hostel premises. The policy also encompasses any form of sloganeering by the university students.

Members of the IJT during today's rally visited different university departments in a 'show of strength' on campus.

The IJT is a right-wing student body that often operates in university campuses across the country as the de facto moral police. IJT members have in the past objected to Valentine's Day celebrations and the playing of music at certain cultural events.

University administration officials have also complained to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif about the "Jamiat's negative activities on the university campus".