Pakistan police detain 70 students in university raid

Police detained around 70 students during an early morning operation at Quaid-i-Azam University, one of Pakistan's most prestigious institutions, amid a weeks-long dispute over hostel evacuations that has involved competing claims about maintenance work, financial violations, and student rights.

The raid, conducted at the request of university administration, cleared four student hostels and resulted in detentions at the Secretariat Police Station.

University officials cite rule violations and financial pressures, while students claim the real issue involves cancelled summer classes and institutional governance. No criminal charges have been filed against the detained students.

University cites financial crisis

Associate Professor and former registrar Dr. Raja Qaiser Ahmed told Nukta that while the detained students were registered QAU students, most were "occupying hostel accommodation illegally and not paying the dues."

Ahmed said the university faces a monthly hostel service deficit exceeding PKR 44 million, driven by unauthorized residency and excessive electricity usage. He also cited previous protests led by what the administration terms "unauthorized ethnic councils" as having "severely impacted the academic environment."

The evacuation stems from a July 13 notification directing students to vacate hostels for maintenance work. Ahmed said the operation was necessary to "restore order and ensure a secure environment conducive to teaching and learning."

The university has suspended its Summer Semester 2025, citing prolonged campus disruptions and financial constraints following what officials described as over six weeks of protests.

Students demand summer classes

Student representatives said the core dispute centers on QAU's decision not to offer summer classes, which they claim affected approximately 1,100 students who needed to improve grades to graduate on time.

A public administration student in his eighth semester told Nukta that students had engaged in negotiations about the summer class cancellation. "We just wanted to be heard. Our request was legitimate - last summer classes were initiated by the end of July," the student said.

Students claimed university officials had promised online summer courses during Monday's discussions, with students agreeing to evacuate hostels once registration opened. "We were waiting for the notification by the administration so that after that we could register in classes, evacuate the hostels, and attend classes online," the student said.

According to students, the issue had been raised at the Senate level, reflecting what they described as the broader significance of the summer program cancellation.

However, students said they were arrested before any notification about online classes was issued. "This morning they've arrested 70-76 students," the eighth-semester student said, describing what he characterized as a sudden reversal after promising developments in negotiations.

Political dimensions

Students also alleged that the operation targeted their organizing efforts around institutional issues. A sixth-semester IT student said renovation could have proceeded with students remaining in hostels, describing the evacuation as an attempt to "suppress and crush the student power that exists."

The student claimed fellow students were working to expose what they described as corruption at the institutional level, including alleged financial irregularities and mismanagement.

Several student council representatives were among those detained, according to student accounts.

Advocate Hadi Ali Chatha, representing the students, said he had met with the Vice Chancellor, who claimed he "doesn't want police to initiate criminal proceedings." Chatha described the detentions as "unlawful custody" since no criminal case has been registered.

Quaid-i-Azam University, established in 1967, is among Pakistan's largest and highest-ranked universities, with over 13,000 students on its 1,700-acre campus in Islamabad. As a federal institution, it attracts students nationwide and has international partnerships.