Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

India-Pakistan

IJT has threatened to kill me, alleges PU professor

2007-10-12

The Punjab University (PU) Institute of Communications Studies (ICS) director Prof Dr Mugheesuddin Sheikh on Thursday accused the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) of threatening to kill him. PU IJT nazim Muhammad Ayub denied the accusation. The PU professor wrote to the press saying several IJT workers had threatened him on telephone. “They threw a makeshift coffin into my house to scare me into submitting to their policies,” he wrote. He also accused the IJT workers, led by Ejaz Bashir Gujjar, of abusing him and a hostel assistant superintendent. Muhammd Ayub said IJT workers had not threatened or abused the professor. He said the IJT was a peaceful organisation working for the welfare of the students.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

Jamiat continues to defy government directives

2005-06-06

The Islami Jamiat Talaba, student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, organised another annual dinner at a Punjab University hostel on Sunday night, again defying federal and provincial government directives not to allow such student groups to organise university events. The IJT has previously managed other dinners in PU hostels. PU Hall Council chairman Prof Mugheesuddin Sheikh, PU IJT nazim Allah Buksh Leghari, hostel warden Dr Mujahid Mansoori and hostel superintendent Dr Javed Ahmed attended the dinner. Annual dinners are meant to be managed by a student committee, but the invitation cards for the dinner bore the IJT logo and announced that the IJT nazim would attend, PU students said. Asked why the IJT was allowed to organise the event, the hostel warden said he had asked Prof Sheikh about policy, but he had responded that each hostel had the onus to stop such events. "We are unable to stop certain political elements. We have no administrative order to do so," he said. "How can we stop these elements when the university administration, including the vice chancellor, are unable to control them?" He said he had asked the hostel superintendent to 'minimise' the IJT's involvement. "Taking action on our own would have been a great risk, especially when the administration is silent on the issue." VC Lt Gen (r) Arshad Mahmood and Prof Sheikh were unavailable for comment. Female students of the PU College of Fine Arts have made a written complaint to the governor and the VC about harassment by IJT activists. College guards have been directed to stop such activists, but one guard said it was unfair to expect the guards to take care of something the administration was doing nothing about. He said the directions had not been given in writing.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

Preaching jihad in Punjab University seen as administration's failure

2005-05-02

It's Perv's fault, of course. Or ours... PUNJAB University students and teachers have described the preaching of jihad by fundamentalists in the university as a challenge for President General Pervez Musharraf's 'enlightened moderation' and a failure of the Punjab governor and university administration. Javed Kasuri, a commander of a militant group named Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), preached jihad to PU students in the Sultan Tipu Hostel last Friday. The Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT), the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, arranged the lecture. The HM, one of the major militant groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, is also associated with the JI. "Youse can't prove dat! Da witnesses are all dead!" Kasuri invited the students to a lecture on the ideology of the HM, but instead criticised secular groups. The IJT claimed that it was a 'simple' and 'routine' lecture about the life and character of the Prophet (Peace be upon him). Kasuri is a former head of the HM Pakistan chapter and is currently a member of the HM supreme council. Do they even pretend that the Kashmir jihad's an indigenous thing anymore? Teachers and students believe that the IJT have the right to propagate their ideology, but not in universities. They said that students should be allowed to complete their studies without any bias so that they may analyse all ideologies themselves. They said that the PU Hall Council was not fulfilling its responsibility to curb these elements in the hostels. Professor Dr Mugheesuddin Sheikh, PU Hall Council chairman, was not aware about the lecture. "I was... ummm... out of town at the time." However, a significant number of university teachers and employees, including hostel wardens and superintendents, are associated with the IJT. Lt Gen (r) Arshad Mahmood was appointed PU vice chancellor by former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif in 1999 to curb political elements in the university. Though he failed in the task, Lt Gen (r) Muhammad Akram khan, appointed vice chancellor of the University of Engineering and Technology by Sharif, rooted out all such elements. Government College University, Lahore, College for Women University and Kinnaird College do not have the presence of any political parties on campus, but the IJT has a stronghold in the PU.

Link

Afghanistan/South Asia

Hizb commander preaches jihad in Punjab U

2005-05-01

Javed Kasuri, a commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militant group, preached jihad to over a hundred Punjab University students in the Sultan Tipu Hostel on Friday night. The lecture was arranged by the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT), the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami. The HM is also closely associated with the JI. Betcha didn't know that, didja?... Oh. You did... The nose on my face, y'say? Students told Daily Times that Kasuri said that the HM's jihad in Kashmir would continue. He invited the students to consider the ideology of Hizbul Mujahideen. He criticised secular groups, such as the Aga Khan Education Board. Kasuri is a former head of the Pakistan chapter of the Hizb, one of the major militant groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. He is currently a member of the HM supreme council. The IJT arranges regular lectures on Quranic teachings at PU hostels, but students said it had been a long time since such a hardline cleric preaching jihad had spoken in one of these lectures. "A real stem-winder! Fair tightened my turban, he did!" The Hall Council chairman, who is in charge of hostels, Professor Dr Mugheesuddin Sheikh, said he had not given permission for the lecture and wasn't even aware of it. He referred this Daily Times correspondent to the warden of the hostel, Dr Abdurauf Butt, who was not available for comment. The vice chancellor refused to comment. "I know nothing! No-thing! Tell them, Hogan!" The Punjab University administration has been directed by the president and governor not to allow political activities on campus. Student unions are banned. However, the IJT plays a prominent role on campus. There's a difference, y'see, between student unions and club-wielding hard boyz... The administration allowed the IJT to set up welcome stalls for the opening of the university's Gujranwala campus. The IJT and administration are currently negotiating for the holding of the annual IJT book fair. Two dates have been rejected and a third is being discussed. The IJT has at least 40 members (rukan), 40 candidates for membership (umeedwar rukan) over 100 prospective members (rafique) and hundreds sympathisers among the 20,000 students of the PU. Ummm... That's 180 hard boyz, at most...

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-4 More