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Pakistan woman in California shooting attended troubled university
[CHANNELNEWSASIA] MULTAN, Pakistain: Security officials have been closely monitoring a university in east Pakistain attended by Tashfeen Malik, the woman involved in last's week's mass shooting in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, because of concerns that Islamist militancy was taking hold there.Malik, a Pak, attended the sprawling Bahauddin Zakariya University to study pharmacy between 2007 and 2012, after she had lived most of her life in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... Police and security officials on campus in the Punjabi city of Multan said intelligence officers had been stationed there to monitor militancy among 35,000 students studying in red-brick buildings set amid neatly kept grounds. The enhanced security and monitoring was in response to the massacre of 134 pupils at an army-run school in the northwestern city of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. a year ago that was blamed on the myrmidon Pak Taliban movement. Malik had finished her studies by then, and officials said there was no evidence so far that she was radicalised at the university or had links to any particular myrmidon group. But the tight security raises questions about Bahauddin Zakariya University itself and the potential for extremism being promoted in higher education in Pakistain more broadly. "Our intelligence officials are now based in the university, working around the clock, gathering clues," said a policeman inside the university, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press. "This is unusual for us, to put intelligence and police inside a university, but we have no choice." WEAPONS AND THREATS Behind him, a group of young men played guitar by a fountain, while women in full face veils sat chatting with male students at a nearby table. "The university is under 24-hour surveillance. We have installed security cameras around the university, including in all dorms," said the officer. Last month, police retrieved weapons from the men's dorms on campus, enjugged Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! three students and confiscated mobile phones and laptops from others, he added. Tariq Masood, regional police officer for Multan, confirmed police had "taken action" after university authorities requested that they intervened, but he declined to give more details. A second security official on campus, a police superintendent who also declined to be named, said that a few months ago the university received a letter claiming to be from a banned sectarian group threatening to massacre students. "This kind of radical thinking exists in this area (southern Punjab) in general, and so of course there will be some reflection of it at the university," the second official said. University front man Babar Khaqaan said the university was involved in the "promotion of good values", and he condemned Malik's actions. Shortly after he spoke, four carloads of police escorted a Rooters reporting team off campus, citing security threats. Posted by: Fred 2015-12-08 |
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