Pakistani police today arrested 20 members of the students' wing of the hardline Jamaat-e-Islami from Punjab University for allegedly beating a teacher.
Varsity teachers association president Ehsan Sharif said activists of Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT) tortured Law College teacher Naemullah Khan after he stopped them from having free meals in the canteen.
Vice-chancellor Mujahid Kamran got a case registered against IJT activists and requested law enforcement agencies to take action against them.
Early this morning, police launched an operation in the boys hostels of Punjab University and arrested 20 students associated with the IJT.
IJT spokesman Abdul Bassam claimed the teacher was having a "closed door" meeting with a woman student on campus. Knowing this, a group of students knocked at his door but he did not open it, he told PTI.
To protest the arrest of the students, IJT activists blocked Canal Road, causing massive traffic jams on all adjacent roads for several hours. Canal Road is a key thoroughfare and the protest affected people across the city.
The vice-chancellor had earlier accused the IJT of harbouring militants in university hostels. "Punjab University hostels are sanctuaries of terrorists," he said.
A couple of months ago, intelligence operatives arrested varsity student Ahmed Sajjad, believed to be the handler for a terrorist cell in Lahore, for harbouring an Al Qaeda member of Arab descent. The alleged Arab terrorist is still in the custody of intelligence agencies.
An IJT spokesman refuted the allegations and accused the vice-chancellor of defaming the organisation. The spokesman claimed the vice-chancellor was promoting "indecent culture" on campus.
IJT students had last year assaulted senior teacher Iftikhar Baloch over his relations with women students. Baloch was sacked after the charges were proved in the Punjab University syndicate.
