The Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT), infamous for harassing Punjab University students, has proved its mettle once again after a student allegedly thrashed by it last Thursday withdrew his complaint on Tuesday. It was reported that Ayaz, a student in the first semester of a master's in the marketing programme, was beaten up in public by IJT activists for sitting with a female classmate despite repeated warnings. IJT, a youth wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, which operates in the university illegally, is said to have warned Ayaz against talking to female classmates several times. Last Thursday, IJT activists Hafiz Toseef and Imran Mumtaz both undergraduate students, beat Ayaz when he was sitting with a girl, eyewitnesses told Daily Times. Ayaz filed a complaint with the chairman of the Institute of Administrative Sciences and Human Resource Development and the issue was taken up by the department disciplinary committee. However, some department students told Daily Times on Wednesday that Ayaz was 'coaxed' into withdrawing his application.
The students said that this was not the first time a complaint against the IJT had been forcibly withdrawn. In October 2004, 300 Space Science Department (SSD) students, backed by the IJT, attacked students of the Social Work Department (SWD) and misbehaved with teachers. The disciplinary committee issued show cause notices to only one IJT activist and four SWD students. Ultimately, the SWD students compromised and no action was taken against the aggressors. Last week, IJT students beat up a Physics Department student for taking pictures of a female cousin who was also his classmate. Students estimated that the IJT had more than a thousand activists and sympathisers in the Punjab University.