PESHAWAR: At least two students were injured in a clash between Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba (IJT) and Pakhtun Students Federation (PSF) on the premises of Islamia College University on Tuesday.
Eyewitnesses claimed that IJT members stopped and questioned a PSF member while he was walking with a girl student of the institute.
“A member of PSF was walking and talking with a girl student when he was stopped by some members of IJT asking for their identification and relationship,†said a student on condition of anonymity.
The student added that soon after the incident, members of PSF reached the spot and a scuffle broke out between the two groups.
A large number of police personnel reached the university to control the situation.
“Two students sustained injuries and were shifted to Khyber Teaching Hospital,†said DSP Campus Saif Ullah.
The police official added that the condition of the injured students was out of danger.
Saif Ullah, however, claimed that the reason for the scuffle was the earlier clash in Punjab University.
“Police has arrested 12 students allegedly involved in the clash,†said the DSP, adding that a search operation was underway to arrest others involved in the scuffle.
University officials refused to comment on the situation when contacted.
Earlier, at least five people were injured as students from the IJT allegedly gatecrashed a Pakhtun cultural event being held at Punjab University (PU).
Following the clash, police reached the campus and used tear gas to disperse the violent crowd.
The IJT is a right-wing student body that often operates in university campuses across the country as the de facto moral police. IJT members have in the past objected to Valentine’s Day celebrations and the playing of music at certain cultural events.
University administration officials have also complained to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif about the “Jamiat’s negative activities on the university campus”.
In February, as many as 15 students were injured in a clash between two organisations at a Punjab University hostel on the playing of loud music at hostel no 4.
Pushtoon and Baloch Educational Development Movement’s Imran Kakar said some students were playing music in their room when a group of IJT activists reached there.
He said the IJT activists torched the room, while those who were playing music moved away after the incident.