LAHORE: Student attendance at the Punjab Medical College (PMC), Faisalabad, has dipped after clashes between the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) and the Muslim Students Federation (MSF) over the past two days in the campus. Many students have stopped coming to college fearing for their lives after the clashes on May 22 and May 23. Police cases have been registered. The IJT has given a 72-hour 'deadline' to the college administration to expel MSF activists, saying it would hold a series of protests otherwise. Mushtaq Cheema, Faisalabad nazim, is allegedly backing the activists because the MSF president, Ishtiaq Aalam, is a close friend of his son Irfan Cheema. The federal and provincial governments have directed authorities to depoliticise campuses. In spite of the fact that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League has abolished its youth wing, the MSF, it still functions in many campuses. Raja Basharat, Punjab law minister, was not available for comment.
The MSF asked Dr AG Rehan, PMC principal, to allow the organisation to hold a funfair in the campus. The IJT intervened saying that the MSF should not be given permission. The administration allowed the MSF to hold the fair. After the funfair on May 22, the IJT clashed with MSF students in the Iqbal and Sena Hostels accusing them of drinking alcohol and dancing. Later, a police case was lodged but the IJT and MSF students were released at midnight.
According to students, 50 MSF activists equipped with batons, steel rods and guns, entered the college and assaulted about a dozen IJT students, in their MBBS fourth year, on May 23. The IJT registered a case at the Civil Lines police station, but the MSF activists are still roaming free. The names of the accused are Ishtiaq Aalam, Afzal Khan, Salik Shahbaz, Wahjahat Hasan, Mohsin Gujar, Mustansarul Hasan, Jahangir, Nasir, Farhan Sarwar, Rai Khizar, Altumash, Sarfaraz Janjooa and Fahad. Punjab Medical College students told Daily Times that there were about 1,200 students in the campus. They said that about 125 students were affiliated with the IJT and roughly the same number with the MSF. The PMC principal said that the situation had calmed down and campus life had returned to normal. He said the administration was trying its best to cope with political elements, but it was hard to remove political elements without strict directions to do so.