Campus battlegrounds: edit in The Dawn, May 18

VIOLENCE on university campuses may be an age-old phenomenon in Pakistan but of late it seems to be taking place with disturbing regularity. Much of the violence has centred on universities in Punjab, though other campuses elsewhere have not been immune. The Islami Jamiat Tulaba has drawn plenty of flak — and rightly so — for its strong-arm tactics on campus. Yet it is only one among many student groups responsible for disturbing campus life and further degrading the moribund academic standards in our universities. Matters are aggravated and become more worrisome when members of the faculty or university administration get involved in student politics or try to settle scores by backing opposing student organisations.

A tussle among faculty members at Bahawalpur’s Islamia University appears to be one of the factors that triggered violence between two student groups in February. The brawl between a group with religious affiliations and another student outfit left several people injured and caused considerable damage to university property. Though the bad blood between the two groups may have stemmed from a desire to dominate campus life, the university administration claims that one of the outfits was provoked into violence by elements within the faculty. Due to the violence many of the students involved have been fined while others have been expelled. The engineering college has been closed since the clash and attempts to restart academic activities have been unsuccessful.

The case illustrates the intensity of the blow that is dealt to education when violence erupts on campus. In the present situation, it will be difficult for many students to make up for the precious academic time that has been lost due to the university’s closure. No doubt, students and teachers have every right to air their grievances. But this must be done in a peaceful manner. Meanwhile, firearms on campus and the presence of outsiders in university hostels — believed to be the case in Islamia University — must not be tolerated. The university administration must ensure that only students have access to hostels while the elimination of weapons from the nation’s campuses will greatly improve the academic environment. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/campus-battlegrounds-850