Students fined for 'listening to music' at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Gomal University

• Gomal University's ICIT department says students fined because they played music in a teaching area. 
• University administration says students were repeatedly asked to stop the music as it was disturbing classes. 
• One of the students is enrolled in a master's programme; other studying for undergraduate degree.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The Gomal University in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday imposed a Rs5,000 fine on two students of its Institute of Computing and Information Technology (ICIT) Department for listening to music while classes were in session.

The Chairman of the ICIT Department, Zia Ud Din, said the two students had been playing music on a Bluetooth speaker in a teaching area of the varsity. 

He added that their action, "disturbed the classes ongoing in the department at the time".

“Both students were warned multiple times to stop [the music] and were fined when they did not [pay] heed to the requests,” the chairman said. 

He added that the Bluetooth speaker was also confiscated from the students.

Read more: Gomal University fires professor over sexual harassment

One of the students who was fined was enrolled in a master's programme in the department, while the other is studying for his undergraduate degree.

Gomal University Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Iftikhar Ahmed, while confirming the incident, said that "music that disturbs the educational environment" is banned in the university. 

He added that the administration does not have any issues if someone is listening to music without disturbing others.

Speaking on the fine, the Gomal University VC clarified that the administration has only banned smoking, drugs and political activity in the varsity.

Gomal University under fire on Twitter

A day after the incident, the varsity's poorly worded notification went viral on the Twitter. 

Many Twitterati expressed anger at the varsity for imposing the fine.

Here's a look at some of the reactions.

Another user remarked that every educational institute of Pakistan seemed to be "oppressing the students".

This user poked fun at the typos on the 'certificate':

This the second time within this month that a varsity of Pakistan has faced backlash on the internet over controversial decisions.

Last week, a video of a female student proposing to her university mate within the University of Lahore premises had taken Twitter by storm.

The viral footage showed the woman with her right knee bent, a bouquet of roses in her hand, proposing to an elated man, who hugs her afterwards.

The unusual and bold move by the woman to initiate the proposal drew a large crowd that applauded and cheered the couple on, amid the movie-like scene.

Read more: Lahore university proposal video takes Twitter by storm; both students expelled

The proposal, however, did not sit well with the University of Lahore.

The varsity issued a letter in which it said the disciplinary committee has decided to expel the students.

"A meeting of the Special Disciplinary Committee was held on 12-3-2021 at 10:30am in the Office of the Rector," reads the notification.

It said that the two students "were involved in gross misconduct and violation of University rules", adding that they were summoned before the committee but "failed to appear".