Students of University of Central Punjab Lahore (UCP) were beaten by UCP security guards while Punjab Police baton-charged NFC University in Faisalabad for protesting against their respective institutes’ administrations today.
At least a dozen students injured due to baton-charge by the security of the University of Central Punjab for protesting fee hike & on-campus exams at UCP campus today. 5 NFC students were injured who have been taken to hospital in Faisalabad, according to the reports.
Over a thousand students are now present in front of UCP gate to continue the protest against university administration with ‘more power’.
The Progressive Students’ Collective Tweeted, “Students were beaten by the security of the University of Central Punjab for protesting at the main gate. Students are gathering again at the main gate of UCP. Private Universities have become a mafia and it’s time we uproot it! We will not be deterred.”
Students were beaten by the security of University of Central Punjab for protesting at the main gate. Students are gathering again at the main gate of UCP. Private Universities have become a mafia and it’s time we uproot it! We will not be deterred. #StudentsKoInsafDo pic.twitter.com/h4CO97wTri
— Progressive Students’ Collective (@PSCollective_) January 26, 2021
PSC General Secretary Ali Aftab told TSH that he and many other students ‘got serious injuries’. “We were peacefully protesting when they (security guards) opened lathi-charge on us,” he added.
From past few days, students across the country are protesting to reject exams on campus after they studied an online semester. There have been protests in Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, DG Khan and Karachi standing for same motive to ‘reject’ online exams. The students have faced ‘police brutality’ for protesting yet various institutes have accepted the students’ demand to conduct exams online.
Information Secretary of the protest-leading PSC told TSH, “… ’the private mafias’ want to conduct physical exams in the quest of making money; fail them & charge a fee for another year”. He further added, “Now students are waking up and a very powerful student movement is on its way which will not be deterred”
The Students’ Protest against UMT
Yesterday, Punjab Police baton-charged students of University of Management & Technology (UMT) while they were protesting against on-campus examinations. President PSC Lahore, Zubair Siddiqui who was leading the protest was taken to Jinnah hospital after being seriously injured due to ‘lathi charge’. Social Media activists condemned Punjab Police crackdown on students while the hashtags #PoliceAttackedStudents & #StudentsKoInsafDo trended on top at Pakistani twitter yesterday. After successful negotiations between student leaders and university administration, the later accepted students’ demands last night.
