Threats of terrorist attacks: Karachi University fails to develop flawless security system

The administration of Karachi University has failed to evolve a flawless system in the campus amid intelligence agencies' reports about possible terrorist attacks on educational institutions. Sources told Business Recorder that Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui had approved a special grant for developing an effective monitoring system to keep a vigil eye on the movement of suspected persons.
"The university's management hired ex-serviceman for establishment of the central control room and installation of CCTV cameras, but they (ex-servicemen) left the project at midway," they added. They said Governor Sindh and Chancellor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan had issued directives to the vice chancellors of all public and private sector universities for development of foolproof security system.
However, the management had failed to comply with the directives, which exposed the laziness, besides its behaviour towards chancellor secretariat, they added. "At present there is no surveillance system in the university and there is no restriction on entry of anyone in the premises of the university, which is posing threats to the life of both the students and teaching faculty," they said, adding that the university has failed to construct boundary wall and ban entry of unwanted persons through prohibited backdoors."
They said the university had appointed ex-serviceman as Chief Security Officer (CSO) to establish a vigilance centre and to bring improvement in the existing security arrangements for 26,000 students and 7,000 of its employees. The hired CSO resigned from his position due to growing pressure from university's employees and refusal of his illegal demands, the sources added.
Advisor Security Affairs KU Khalid Iraqi told Business Recorder that the management was working to introduce a model security system and to bring reforms in the existing security arrangements. Rejecting the reports of financial constraints behind the suspension of the project, the advisor said that the vice chancellor had allocated a special grant for establishment of a well-organised security system.
He disclosed that the university was facing shortage of security guards to safeguard the premises of the educational institution from anti-state elements due to which it had failed to develop a security system. He said that the university administration had initiated process of recruiting security guards, but the process has yet not been completed due to some unknown reasons.