Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) activists clashed with policemen, torched a bus and disrupted traffic on Monday in a protest at the Punjab University’s (PU) decision to convert a hostel for boys to one for girls.
The university administration called in the police on Sunday in order to clear Hostel No 16, an IJT stronghold, of boys.
Police removed the male students out of all but a few of the rooms and female students began to be sent in to their new accommodation.
But some members of the IJT, which is the student wing of the Jamaat-i-Islami. returned overnight while police surrounded the hostel in the morning to clear the remaining rooms. In a raid on one room, assigned to IJT PU Nazim Rao Adnan, police found bottles of alcohol, bhang and several bullets, said police and administration officials.
Twelve accused of creating a ruckus during the raid at the hostel were detained. Another four were later arrested for allegedly throwing stones at the police and female students.
Meanwhile, angry students gathered on University Road for a protest called by the IJT. They parked university buses near the PU underpass on Canal Bank Road to try to block it.
Students snatched the keys of several vehicles on University Road and threw them away in a successful attempt to block traffic. Hundreds of vehicles were stuck for several hours on Canal Bank Road, Iqbal Town’s Main Boulevard, Wahdat Road and Multan Road.
Up to eight motorcyclists stopped a Lahore Transport Company (LTC) bus near Naqsha Stop on Wahdat Road, forced the passengers to get off, doused it in petrol and then lit it up, according to the FIR of the incident.
The university administration again called in the police and they chased the protesters back onto the campus. A further five male students were arrested, taking the total to 21, said Operations DIG Rana Abdul Jabbar.
Normal traffic flow was restored by around 5pm, police said.
The LTC claimed that two other buses had been damaged by students, at Garhi Shahu and on Bund Road near Taj Company, but no FIRs were registered in this regard at Garhi Shahu and Islampura police stations.
A total of seven FIRs were registered by police against PU students on Monday for various public disorder offences including rioting, for assault, for attempted murder, and for offences under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 3rd, 2013.