I have yet to read a statement by Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Imran Khan on the following news item/editorial:

Acts of anarchy
Sunday, January 25, 2009
A student, linked to the Islami Jamiat-e-Tulaba (IJT), who had been expelled from the Punjab University some time ago, was recently discovered taking his exams. When challenged by the invigilator, a woman, he responded with a volley of threats. The student is currently said to be evading arrest by the police.

The incident points to the kind of indiscipline that has overtaken our campuses. While in recent months an effort has been made to limit the influence of the IJT, it has had only a limited success. The group is obviously unwilling to relinquish a hold that has not been challenged for years. Students affiliated with it have used violence as a means to force their writ on all others on the campus. The fact that they now face a challenge from new student groups that have come up after the lifting of the ban on unions means that they are determined to try and dig in their heels further. Other students have already protested the latest act of indiscipline involving the IJT. Many dislike the group but have not dared say anything against it. We must hope the university authorities will continue efforts to ensure that the IJT too is made to follow rules. Only this will ensure an improved environment on the campus. The IJT has contributed, by promoting nepotism and unfair play in admissions and examinations, to a decline in academic standards at the university. There must now be an all-out attempt to restore the standing of the PU as a premier institute of higher learning and to convert it into a place from where violence and harassment can be banished. At present, teachers and students both maintain that problems linked to the IJT continue. We must hope that these can quickly be brought to an end. (The News, Editorial)

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