KARACHI: In the wake of frightening instances of well-educated, university students being brainwashed and lured into the ideology of militants and extremists, the Counter Terrorism Department of Sindh police has invited vice chancellors of universities to discuss ways and means to combat terrorism and radicalization in university campuses.
Recent cases, including that of Saad Aziz – a graduate of a well-known business institution – condemned to death by a military court over his involvement in Safoora bus massacre, and Nouren Leghari, a student of the Liaquat University of Medical Sciences (LUMS) confessing to her involvement in terrorist activities, set alarm bells ringing for the security agencies to broaden the scope of their anti-terror policy to include educational institutions.
Officials of the CTD believe that terrorist and extremist outfits have changed their strategy to focus on educated youths to achieve their vicious targets. The increased cases of radicalization of students have shown that they easily become victim of the the ideology of terrorists, they added.
They said the CTD has scheduled a meeting with vice chancellors to discuss the matter and evolve a strategy to grapple with the menace of terrorism and radicalization in educational institutions. The CTD would enlighten them and get their feedback on the matter.
The heads of the educational institutions invited to attend the meeting included University of Karachi, Hamdard University, National Institute of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Institute of Business Administration, Bahria University Karachi Campus, Federal Urdu University of Arts Science and Technology Karachi Campus, Jinnah University for Women, Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari Institute of Technology, Muhammad Ali Jinnah University Karachi, Iqra University Karachi Campus and Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology.
Saad Aziz was found involved in attacking a bus of the Ismaili community near Safoora Chowrangi on May 13, 2015, which left 45 people dead.
In addition, in December 2015 CTD had arrested Adil Masood Butt, professor of a private university over his alleged involvement in fundraising for Al Qaida.
