Clash on campus: IBA event cut short by KU students

KARACHI:A trade fair at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) was cut short when a group of 30 students of the neighbouring University of Karachi (KU) harassed the organisers for playing loud music.

On Thursday evening, the IBA Main Campus student body had organised a trade fair to launch its Marketing Club on one of its lawns. With scrumptious food, refreshing drinks, fun-filled games, water activities and music, the event seemed promising until the KU students barged in and out to put an end to the function.

Over 500 people were present at the event when the group of, what the students called, intruders came in, threw down the sound system and overturned some of the corner tables. The “unexpected intervention” caused chaos as participants, not sure what happened, ran around the premises to take cover.

“People are dying in earthquakes or starving to death and here you are, wasting thousands of rupees on singing and dancing,” shouted one of the intruders, a witness quoted.

Some IBA students claimed the young men were activists of the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) but the student organisation, which works to promote religion on campus, denied these accusations. “My organisation was not responsible for this incident,” insisted IJT spokesperson Sohaib Ahmed.

Even the IBA administration was reluctant to share the identity of the culprits. “I am not sure actually who they were except for the fact that they were students of the University of Karachi,” said IBA registrar Captain (retd) Ahmed Zaheer.

“Whatever happened in the end was unexpected and everyone was taken by surprise,” said one of the participating students, who requested anonymity. “Despite a little mishap, in the end, it was an exciting event.”

Most of the students were afraid to share information about the incident when The Express Tribune tried to contact them, claiming the IBA management was very ‘strict’. “If any mishap occurs at the events organised by the student body, the administration takes no time to suspend the organisers,” a student remarked bitterly. “They appear too obtuse to punish those who are actually responsible, such as the security staff,” he added, claiming that the incident occurred due to a major security lapse. “They [guards] failed to stop the outsiders from breaking in.”

Normally, it is not too easy for students of KU to enter IBA even though the latter is built inside the massive KU campus. Private security guards, hired by the IBA, stand at the entrances to make sure only IBA students are allowed to enter.

Meanwhile, the IBA registrar told The Express Tribune that some people tried to break into their premises but the institution’s security personnel managed to control the situation. “They demanded the event organisers switch off the sound system that was playing loud music,” he explained. These people were told that the students had organised a fun fair at the launch of their marketing club that was about to end by that time.

“They did not cause any physical damages nor did they harm any of our students,” said Captain (retd) Zaheer. “Two of them, who were creating a lot of fuss over the issue, were handed over to the Rangers personnel by the IBA security guards.”

Meanwhile, the IBA administration had also approached the police station but did not lodge a formal complaint, said Jamal Laghari, the SHO at Mubina Town police station.