Lahore, September 22: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed its dismay over the failure to resolve tensions at a medical college in Bahawalpur, where students protesting against electricity outages had been brutally tortured by the police last month.

A statement issued by the Commission on Wednesday said: “It is a matter of serious concern that normalcy has not returned to the Bahawalpur medical college even a month after the torture of students by the police and that students’ living quarters are still being raided and broken into. There is no reason for the matter to have gone unresolved for this long. HRCP urges the medical college administration and the government to address the matter with the urgency it deserves and allow the students to resume their studies without hindrance. Further, HRCP reiterates its view that the college administration must resist the tendency to rely on coercive force to resolve matters which can and must be addressed through amicable means.”

Dr Mehdi Hasan

Chairperson