Parwan University students scared after stone-hurling

KABUL (Pajhwok): Officials and girl students of the university in central Parwan province have demanded more security measures to protect students and the university, especially during night.

Concerns regarding insecurity on the campus in Charikar, the provincial capital, intensified after stones were hurled into the girls’ hostel at night and some illegal armed men threatened workers of a project within the university premises.

The state-run Parwan University has enrolled 7,000 students in nine different disciplines, with girls making 40 percent of the students.

Out of its total students, 300 students including 100 girls live in the university hostel and feel insecurity after some recent incidents.

Leza Ahmadi, a journalism faculty student from Kabul, said in the past three weeks they witnessed twice stones were hurled towards the girls hostel.

“We are away from our homes, our families trusted us and sent us here for education, but unfortunately we are not safe here. We feel uncomfortable, we often request more security specially during night, but security arrangements are not perfect,” she said.

Maryam Sarwari, a resident of Logar and student of literature faculty, also complained about insecurity in the university.

“There are two security personnel in our university who are unable to protect us during night. Our hostel is hit with stones in night, we are afraid. The surrounding walls of our hostel are low and everyone could easily penetrate,” he said.

The two students, who represented other students, asked the university administration and security institutions to take more steps for their security.

University Chancellor Prof. Mohammad Humayon Rasoli acknowledged security threats and said the university has currently only two security personnel for its protection. He demanded allocation of a four-member security check-post.

He expressed deep concern over recent incidents of insecurity and said: “Stones are hurled into the girls hostel during night, which broke the windowpanes. The girls are frightened. If there were more security personnel, they would have acted against them and arrested the perpetrators.”

Rosuli said three weeks earlier, illegal armed men forced their way into the university premises and threatened workers of a newly constructed hostel to stop the work. He did not name the person who forced his way into the university premises.

Rasuli said homes of powerful individuals were located beside the newly constructed male hostel and they stopped the work because they felt the windows of the new building would open towards their homes and their privacy would be violated, but the newly constructed hostel is designed in a way that poses no privacy threat to them.

He said if windows of the building were made small on the demand of these individuals, the building would maintain technical faults.

He said incidents of insecurity had been shared with police and the governor office but they took no action.

Police Chief Brig. Gen. Mohammad Mahfooz Walizada said he had ordered the arrest of individuals who threatened workers of the university building.

He said police had been given new orders to search and monitor all individuals who enter the university.

He said their investigation into the incident of hurling stones to the girls hostel found that it was not a planned program.

He, however, said police have been searching for individuals who hurled stones into the girls hostel.

Walizada said a four-member police check post would be soon established in the university to boost its security.

Nh/ma

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