University authorities must take charge

We welcome the PM's announcement that she would direct the authorities to ensure that criminal activities in the universities are stopped. We welcome her statement as well as her resolve to cleanse the campuses of criminals, thugs and crooks. By the time we go to press, more than 24 hours will have elapsed since the PM made her comments, but nothing palpable seems to have been done in this regard. Although we believe that it is the duty of the authorities to ensure a congenial environment on the campuses and impose their authority without fear or favour, and without waiting for specific directives from the highest quarters, we hope that the relevant authorities would move immediately and start implementing the prime minister's directions.    

It is disheartening and shocking that the words "terror" is used to describe the activities and "criminal" to define the deportment of some of the students belonging to the student wing of the ruling party. Regrettably, the authorities of many public universities had lost control over their institutions, and it was not the command of the VCs or provosts but the writ of the BCL cadres that ran on the campuses, because either the administration was too mortified and lacked the moral courage to act against them or appeased these goons for their own benefits.

We want that the highest seats of learning be restored to their pristine character, where students would find the opportunity for intellectual advancement through open discourse and free exchange of views in a peaceful atmosphere. And that can only happen if the faculty is non-partisan and unbiased and where the administration can apply the rules strictly without fear or favour and without being back-seat-driven by ruling party cadres. The prime minister's intentions are clear. Cleanse the campuses, wrest back the control of the universities from criminals and exercise your authority given to you by the state.