Senate committee to visit Balochistan University over surveillance 'camera scandal'

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Committee on Human Rights on Friday decided that its members would visit the University of Balochistan, Quetta, to investigate the 'surveillance scandal'.

Last week, Balochistan University Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Iqbal had agreed to step down to give way for an impartial inquiry into the allegations that administration officials used surveillance videos to blackmail students.

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Speaking in the Parliament House, the committee's chairperson, Pakistan People's Party leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, said its members would soon visit the university to see if surveillance cameras were being used for security or something else.

The acting head of Balochistan University, Professor Anwar, informed the committee that camera surveillance scandal surfaced during a hearing of two university employees' promotion case at the Balochistan High Court (BHC) and that Dr Iqbal was consequently asked to step down.

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Once the matter came up, the BHC order the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to probe the issue, the results of which would be presented in the next hearing.

During the meeting, the committee was told that according to the university's records, a total of 92 cameras had been installed at the campus but that six additional cameras — not in records — were identified and subsequently taken down.

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Two students of the Balochistan University, who were also present during the meeting, told the committee that the scandal had forced many of their fellow women peers to halt or leave their studies. They demanded the committee to only have armed security officials at the gate and to resume student unions.

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