Professor Dr Asghar Ali Randhawa, Principal of Punjab Medical College rusticated 15 Ahmadi women students and 8 men students from the college as well as hostels on June 5, 2008. Four of the women students were in the final year of their studies.

As per essential details, a campaign was going on for the last one month against Ahmadi women students who were accused of preaching Ahmadiyyat. It is not far-fetched that an Ahmadi occasionally chooses to defend herself against the oft-repeated charge that “Ahmadis are the worst enemies of Islam and Pakistan.” At this college, the anti-Ahmadi campaign was supported by a warden of the hostel. Moreover the miscreants took to pasting highly slanderous and provocative posters on walls. On May 28, 2008 they put up in the hostel a very outrageous and evil poster against the founder of Ahmadiyyat. An Ahmadi student took off one of these and showed it to the warden and requested her to restore some decency in the hostel. The warden’s reaction was negative and partial. Later a number of male students joined the campaign. The issue came before the principal whom some parents of Ahmadi students met and requested to improve the hostel environment. The principal, at the excuse of security, told all Ahmadi women students to shift to one wing of the hostel, although their parents were not agreeable to this polarization.

As all this was an organized campaign, some extremist male students, mostly from the Islami Jamiat Talaba, increased their efforts to poison the college environment further. The college administration, rather than handling them firmly as done by the Punjab University recently, gave them a free hand. They started issuing threats to Ahmadi students. One of them even went to different class rooms and openly prompted others to undertake violence. They put up still more of the provocative posters on college walls.

On June 4, the miscreants abducted 4 Ahmadi students from the hostel and subjected them to physical torture. They took in a mulla to help them with religious slander. They made a video tape of the manhandling of their victims. They forcibly undertook search of Ahmadi students’ rooms and belongings, and even stole what they wanted. This went on for hours. An attempt was made to inform the principal of what was going on but he was reported to be sleeping. So the police were informed but they decided not to intervene. Eventually, the parents of the students whose lives were now at risk, managed to wake up the principal whose intervention secured the release of the abductees.

The drop scene of this sordid drama occurred on June 5 when the miscreants went on strike, surrounded the principal’s office and demanded rustication of all the Ahmadi students. The principal held a session of the Disciplinary Committee and issued orders to rusticate 23 Ahmadi students. The committee did not send for any Ahmadi student, pressed no charges, heard nothing in defense from any one, and rusticated en-masse all 23 of them. This action is immoral, illegal, unsupportable - pure tyranny. These doctors and professors have behaved like a bunch of mullas and policemen who when they suspect one Ahmadi of violating the Ahmadi-specific law, proceed to charge a score in the FIR and arrest them all. If any Ahmadi student was at fault, she could have been disciplined weeks ago, however it is obvious that by June 5 the principal got unduly and overly scared of the extremists and became a tool in their hands to do their bid. His conduct was then no longer that of a principal.

The decision is vindictive, arbitrary and malicious. No action has been taken against a single individual from the agitating miscreants. The fact that all Ahmadi students have been put to harm is indicative of the gross lack of genuine and fair inquiry into the case. Teachers are expected to treat students somewhat like parents, but the PMC professors have behaved more like a brutal enemy.

This is a case of blatant violation of human rights, mass terror, stark discrimination, religious vendetta and abominable social harm. Its vulgarity is beyond description. Its harm to affectees is immense. Years of their academic work and expense would be lost affecting their entire careers and future lives.

The Punjab is governed these days by PML (N) of Mian Brothers at Lahore. Ahmadis feel that the ghost of General Zia is back again and is prowling ‘the land of the pure’.

A copy of the Office Order issued by the principal is shown at the top right.