Police thrash varsity teachers, vandalise their protest camp.

PESHAWAR -- Campus police thrashed teachers of Islamia College University Peshawar on Wednesday and vandalised their protest camp, Islamia Teaching Staff Association said.

The incident took place on the university campus when teachers attempted to sit at their protest camp, which police allegedly fenced on Tuesday night. Islamia Teaching Staff Association president Prof Dil Nawaz told Dawn that police headed by the campus SHO beat up teachers and pushed them into the vehicle.

He said that students rescued teachers when police attempted to take them to the police station. He said that teachers had been on token strike for the last two weeks for acceptance of their demands. 'Our token strike is completely peaceful, but the police action was totally unwarranted,' he said.

The association president said that police had fenced the protest camp on Tuesday night on the pretext of security arrangements for senior functionaries of the government who were visiting the campus on Wednesday.

He said that police stopped teachers from opening protest camp.

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He said that police officials not only used abusive language against them but also resorted to baton charge when teachers put up resistance.

The university administration in a statement denied arrest or any kind of scuffle between the teachers and police. The university registrar, Dr M Touqir Alam, confirmed only exchange of hot words but no physical injury to anyone.

He said that Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra and Adviser to Chief Minister Ziaullah Bangash visited the campus to inaugurate the Science Olympiad, but the office-bearers of the teaching association along with some of their supporters raised insulting slogans against the dignity of the university...