Islamabad Police said Tuesday that some students were “transferred” during an operation to vacate the shelters of the Quaid-Azam University (Qau) that generated intense criticisms.
The videos that circulate on social networks from the early hours of today showed police staff outside the shelters with some of them about the students arrested or carried. The videos caused strong criticisms with many denouncing why measures were being taken against students and saying that more than 70 were arrested.
A Declaration of the Islamabad Police confirmed the development, saying: “At the request of the University Administration ,, [the] The Islamabad police provided legal police assistance. The students had unemployed 11 shelters, while with respect to the remaining four shelters, the university administration declared that some students were not dislocated despite the instructions of the university administration and resided there illegally.
“After the written request of the QUAID-I-AZAM University, assistance to the Guards of the Administration and Security of the University was provided. Those students who resisted this peaceful process have been transferred from the shelter, and now the legal measures will be taken according to the written request of the University Administration.”
A university statement said the district administration took action in the morning to evict shelters after the deadline expired.
“It should be noted that [the] The Quaid-Azam University had decided to temporarily close the shelters since July 13, 2025, in view of the annual repair, maintenance and renewal works during summer holidays. A large number of students fulfilled this decision and annulled the shelters, however, some students were still there to whom the administration of the University and the administration of the district had given them time to vacate the shelters, ”he said.
He added that the Superior Court of Islamabad had dismissed the request of the students challenging the administrative action of the university as inadmissible and confirmed the autonomy of the institution under the law of the Quaid-I-Azam university 1973.
“[The] The Quaid-Azam University once again reiterates its commitment to provide a safe and conducive environment for students while maintaining discipline, academic standards and institutional autonomy, ”said the statement.
When playing the police statement, the human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-hazir in a position on X questioned why the entrance was not allowed to the police station of the Secretariat. “We have just had a meeting with the Vice Chancellor [of the QAU] And he clearly declared that he did not make any request of this type, ”he added.
She claimed that more than 70 students were “being maintained in illegal detention without any first information report (FIR)” at the Secretariat Police Station and the authorities were “denying to share a copy of FIR”.
Former Afrasiab Khattak senator described the “shameful” police repression.
“Forty students are arrested because they request that they are allowed to remain in the shelters to prepare for their exams. They must be released immediately and the problems must be solved by negotiations. Campus are an important part of civil society,” he wrote in X.
Dr. Taimur Rehman Academic and Activist said students protested for starting the summer semester. “Imagine. They were arrested because they want to study,” he said.
The artist, environmentalist and activist Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Junior regretted that “universities in Pakistan have become against their own students.” “Seventy students from the Quaid-I-Azam University have been arrested in Islamabad for simply requesting that shelters stay open during the summer. Keep our safe students! Keep the safe campuses!”
The incident was also strongly criticized by former Human Rights Minister, Dr. Shireen Mazari, in a series of positions on X.
In September, up to 25 students were injured in a clash between two groups at the university. Of the injured students, 20 were admitted to the Institute of Medical Sciences of Pakistan and five to the polyclinic.
The University (once called Islamabad University) was established in July 1967 under a law of the National Assembly and began teaching and investigating Mphil’s doctoral programs and titles. Later, he also began offering mastery, graduate and undergraduate programs.
