Islamabad: Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, has imposed a ban on mixed gender gatherings on the campus through a notification posted on the premises on Sunday. In the notification, a copy of which is available with Daily Times, the administration has warned that male and female students and employees were not allowed to sit or walk together on the campus. “Violators will be penalised without any further warning,” it reads. In his statement to the media, the university’s chief proctor, Dr Mohammad Shakeel said the policy was aimed at ensuring that students don’t waste their time. “They sit around idle and do nothing. That is why the university administration has decided to ban mixed gender gatherings,” he said. Shakeel rejected the suggestion made by several activists and students on social media platforms that the administration was turning the campus into a seminary. Meanwhile, the university spokesman Saeed Khan expressed ignorance about the reasons behind the ban. Speaking to the media, he said he had no idea why they ban was imposed. In the past, rightwing student organisations had favoured such bans on various KP campuses, but their demands were met with staunch opposition. After the notification got circulated on social media, it generated mixed responses. Saleem Baluch, writing on Twitter, said that the administration might as well just change the university into a seminary. “Universities are supposed to promote human rights and equality,” he said. Obaid Bhatti posted that the ban was a welcome effort to counter unethical and unsocial behavior. Khadim Hussain, a prominent educationist, posted, ‘This type of segregation at higher education institutes is so strange’. In January 2016, Bacha Khan University had been targeted by terrorists. More than 20 students and teachers lost their lives in the attack. The university remained closed for a month afterwards.
Published in Daily Times, December 25th 2017.
