World | Pakistan
Protest against start of music classes in varsity
The student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) has intensified its protest campaign against the start of music classes in Punjab University.
- By Amir Mir, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 September 11, 2006
Lahore: The student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) has intensified its protest campaign against the start of music classes in Punjab University.
It is pressing the Punjab Governor, who is also the chancellor of the university, to reverse the decision as it was un-Islamic and against the ideology of Pakistan.
A large number of the IJT activists distributed leaflets outside the varsity mosque in the Old and New Campus of the University on Friday and Saturday and raised slogans against the varsity administration for starting MA Music classes in the varsity.
The pamphlet reads that due to the Punjab governor's secular agenda, boys and girls would sit together in the music classes. The PU administration has already announced the admission schedule for its most controversial master's level programme, MA Musicology, thereby inviting the wrath of the IJT activists who have been staging protests inside the university premises on a daily basis against the decision.
The IJT activists say they would not allow MA Musicology in the varsity because it was against Islam and the ideology of Pakistan.
According to the president of the IJT's Punjab University chapter Salman Ayub, the protest campaign against the controversial programme and distribution of handbills would continue until the university administration withdrew its decision.
He said IJT would aggressively and openly oppose music and other performing arts classes in the university. He said the universities were supposed to be centres of research but unfortunately the Punjab University administration was promoting "Western culture" and "unhealthy activities" in the campus.
Interestingly, the Punjab University Academic Staff Association (PUASA) is also criticising the varsity administration for starting admissions to the MA Music classes.
According to the PUASA President Prof Dr Mumtaz Salik, the Association would oppose "negative activities" like music, drama and acting in the university.
"The university administration should have to come up with proper justification before starting these courses," he added.
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