A disturbance at the historic Islamia College University (ICU) disrupted academic activities when students from a local ethnic group vandalized the vice-chancellor’s office and insulted a faculty member. In response, the teachers’ representative body organized a protest sit-in, demanding protection for the teaching staff, as they claimed that activists from a student organization had been engaging in violent behavior for weeks.
The situation escalated on Wednesday when a foreign student accused several university administrators and faculty members of misconduct. The female student, reportedly an American from the Pashto Department, addressed the protesting crowd, stating that her hostel lacked basic facilities. She claimed university officials asked her to meet them later to resolve the issue. Additionally, she alleged that, despite being infected with dengue, she was denied permission to leave for medical treatment.
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Following her impassioned speech, which a male student translated, the group moved to the Political Science Department, where they mistreated a female teacher, and later went to the English Department, tearing the clothes of and verbally abusing English teacher Awal Said. The day before, the same group had already vandalized the vice-chancellor’s office and disrespected him.
In the aftermath of the chaos, teachers gathered on campus under the Teaching Staff Association (TSA) banner and marched to the campus police offices, staging a sit-in until an FIR was filed against the students involved in the misconduct. TSA President Fazal Wahid criticized the university administration for failing to protect faculty members and demanded the immediate removal of both the vice-chancellor and registrar.
Registrar Dawood Zeb confirmed that an FIR had been filed against the students for insulting faculty members and damaging university property. Regarding the foreign student’s allegations, he stated that the matter had been referred to the university’s harassment committee for a proper investigation, asserting that the claims were unfounded and that the student had been incited by a student organization to push for their “illegal” demands.
One of the protesting students, who recently graduated and is now practicing law at the Peshawar High Court, has been pressuring the university to allocate him three shops and land near Dhobi Ghat to establish a wedding hall. However, the university is unable to meet such demands, especially given that much of its land has been encroached upon in various areas over the years.
Awal Said, the affected teacher, expressed that the students’ actions were motivated by their self-serving interests.
