Communist Party spokesman calls for suspension of Rector and Proctor of Malakand University over death of student

PESHAWAR, June 3 (APP): Speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Babar Saleem Swati on Monday directed the provincial government to suspend the Rector and Proctor of Malakand University over the death of a student in a road accident.

The Speaker presided over the meeting and declared in his judgment that a syndicate meeting of the University must be called immediately for this purpose, since all universities were subject to the authority of the House.

Earlier, Shafiullah Khan had stated in a point of order that the Malakand University administration had asked Musa Khan, a student of the Faculty of Journalism, to leave the premises immediately at night because he heard music in his dorm room a few days ago.

He said the student unfortunately met with a fatal accident after leaving the university and later succumbed to head injuries due to no bed availability at the Hayatabad Medical Complex in Peshawar.

Ahmed Kundi of the PPP said it was the government’s responsibility to protect citizens and those involved in the incident must be brought to justice.

KP Health Minister Qasim Ali Shah, while replying to a point of order, said that the student sustained a head injury and was initially taken to a local hospital from where he was referred to HMC, Peshawar at around 12 noon. However, as there was no vacant bed in HMC, it was decided to refer him to another hospital but in the meantime he succumbed to his injuries.

He said that the health care system in the province is improving and that is why the number of patients referred to Peshawar has come down to 66 percent. He added that in the present case, the injured student should not have been referred to Peshawar until his condition was stabilized at Malakand Hospital.

He said major hospitals, including HMC in Peshawar, were overloaded and operating beyond their capacity.

The spokesman asked the minister not to justify the measure. Those responsible for the student’s death should be punished and a report should be presented to Parliament within a week.

The Minister of Health assured that he would investigate the incident and submit a report within a week.

Former Communist Party Assembly speaker Mushtaq Ghani said if there was no vacant bed, the critically ill patient could be treated on a stretcher. He added that it was the responsibility of the principal to report the student’s behaviour to his parents.

The spokesman decided that both the Provost and the Proctor should remain suspended pending the investigation.

The Prime Minister’s Special Assistant, Dr. Amjad, assured a transparent investigation into the incident, the implementation of the Speaker’s decision in letter and spirit, and punishment of those responsible in accordance with the law.

Humayun Khan pointed out that Chakdara Road was closed today in protest against the incident, adding that a provincial inspection team would be sent to Malakand University to check the influence of political groups in the university.

He said the former vice-chancellor was involved in the student strike, financial corruption in the university was on the rise and the job advertisements should be deleted.

Malik Liaquat said that there was no water available to students at the university and that teachers should not oppress students to the point where they were forced to leave the universities.

The spokesman regretted that the student did not receive timely medical treatment either in Malakand or in Peshawar.

Fazal Hakeem said that an FIR should be filed against the people involved and the incident should be investigated.

Higher Education Minister Meena Khan Afridi said that a report was sought from the departmental secretary immediately after the incident. A report from the vice-chancellor was received the next day and was not encouraging.

He informed the House that the report was rejected at that time and an inquiry had been initiated under the chairmanship of the Additional Secretary and Deputy Secretary. They would submit a report on June 4. He assured that all those involved would be punished.

Meanwhile, a demonstration was held to protest against Musa Khan’s death. The protesters displayed placards and banners in favor of Musa Khan.