Protest Enters Into 9th Day!
Dunya TV-NEWS WATCH-24-01-2011 University of Education Township Lahore
Monday, January 24, 2011
The sit-in ended after negotiations between the students and the law minister.
The sit-in ended after negotiations between the students and the law minister.
The Punjab government set up a committee headed by Sanaullah to resolve the issue. The committee, which includes MPAs Rana Arshad and Ahmad Ali Aolakh, directed the secretary of the Higher Education Department, Haseeb Athar, to conduct an inquiry and submit his report to the committee on Thursday.
The student protesters held placards and banners inscribed with slogans such as ‘We don’t recognise VC’s rules’. They alleged that the vice chancellor had threatened to expel students who participated in the protest and promised to reward those who do not with A grades.
Police Thrash Protesting UoE Students And Journalists
LAHORE - The Township Police on Wednesday brutally tortured journalists and University of Education (UoE) students on protesting against termination of two varsity faculty members. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif condemned the torture and formed a committee to prove termination of UoE IT Director Anwarur Rehman Pasha and his wife Shaheen Pasha.
The torture took place at the Akbar Chowk, Township where police thrashed journalists and UoE students and also arrested some students on staging a protest. The UoE VC terminated Pasha and his wife on serious allegations of corruption. According to details, students launched a rally from the UoE campus at Township and reached Akbar Chowk and blocked the road.
Journalists were covering the event when police started beating them. Two journalists including private TV channel reporter Rizwan Nazir and Zaheer Abbas were seriously injured due to the torture. Police also thrashed students and locked them in the police station. Nazir and Abbas said that police also snatched their office cards and manhandled them.
Afterwards, students gathered at the Punjab Assembly (PA) and blocked the Mall Road and started a protest. The Punjab CM instructed Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah and other MPAs to pursue the matter and asked them to form a committee in this regard.
The CM also instructed police to immediately release the arrested students. Rana Arshad told Pakistan Today that the law minister and the higher education department secretary are included in the committee and would visit the UoE today (Thursday) to sort out the matter. He condemned thrashing of students and journalists by police.