Whither the state?

Around 9:45 am on January 20, Professor Dr. Fazlur Rahim Marwat, the Vice Chancellor of Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, was driving towards the campus when he received an unexpected call. The call prompted him to divert the car towards Police Station Nisatta, where he reached around 10:00 am.

Police and Army personnel reached Bacha Khan University around 10:45 am. By 12:30 pm that day, 21 students and staff members, along with four militants, were dead. It was the second major attack on an educational institute since the APS Peshawar attack on December 16, 2014.

At 10:15 am on January 29, nine days after the attack, the BKU’s VC office was still filled with journalists, government officials and security personnel. Around 12:30 pm, we were summoned inside Dr Marwat’s room.

“You must have the qehwa,” Dr Marwat insisted following introductions and exchange of pleasantries. He was surprisingly unflustered for someone who had been asked the same questions for the past two and a half hours, and the previous nine days. After having turned down the offer initially, we decided to go for our third qehwa of the morning. It was both a testament to the taste of the hot drink and Dr Marwat’s hospitable insistence.

“It’s a pleasant morning today,” he remarked as we enjoyed the hot cup of qehwa. “Quite unlike what it was on the day of the attack.”

Dr Marwat echoed reports of the attack in saying that fog helped the perpetrators get inside the campus. “It was probably the foggiest day of the season. But the fog both worked in favour of the militants and against them. It helped them get inside the campus unseen, but thankfully the fog became a hindrance for the attackers as well, who couldn’t see 10 metres beyond the line of sight.”

"Dr Hussain's valiant fight is commendable, but the campus cannot afford staffers carrying guns around with them" (Vice Chancellor, BKU)

The VC reconfirmed that the attackers were well informed and if it hadn’t been for the fog and the university’s ‘valiant guards’ the damage could’ve been a lot worse. Dr Marwat’s calm and controlled persona took a back seat when the casualties were mentioned. His face almost betrayed an iota of anxiety when he was asked whether the security guards’ absence facilitated the attack.

“Everyone keeps mentioning that the university has over 55 guards and that only a handful were present that day. Each security guard has an eight-hour shift. This means we have to divide them into three shifts. This leaves us 17 security guards working at any given time.”

As his responses become increasingly passionate, Dr Marwat criticised the government over lack of security.

“We need to figure out whether every individual is responsible for their own security, or whether it’s the state’s responsibility to secure the citizens,” he asked with a sarcastic smile – an expression he would manifest on multiple other occasions during our discussion.

Dr Marwat said the university had done all it could to provide the security, but it is expecting too much from the officials to counter a planned terror attack.

“It’s a 600-kanal area, surrounded by agricultural farms. The campus is about 2-3 kilometres away from the Motorway. Any group of terrorists can hide in the sugarcane field nearby overnight, and attack the campus the next day, which is what I believe happened.”

He praised the bravery of Chemistry professor Dr Syed Hamid Hussain’s, who was killed while battling the attackers. However, the VC said arming teachers is not the answer.

“Dr Hussain’s valiant fight is commendable, but the campus cannot afford staffers carrying guns around with them. I don’t think it would create an air of security in any way whatsoever. I would never carry a gun with me, no matter what. The government needs to take responsibility for securing the campuses instead of expecting the teachers to fight their war.”



He called his days as a student and said things had been a lot different back then. “We were asked to go through the NCC training back in the day. They were different times. I even went across border during the Afghan jihad. Of course I didn’t fight alongside the mujahideen myself, but I spent enough time with them to know that Pakistan is still reeling from the mistakes of the past. But I wouldn’t want to open the Pandora’s Box.”

The BKU VC had gone to Afghanistan in 1982 for his studies. He has authored the book The Basmachi Movement in Soviet Central Asia and co-edited the publication Afghanistan and the Frontier.

Although he didn't acknowledge direct correlation, Dr Marwat feels there was symbolism behind an attack on Bacha Khan's death anniversary

Dr Marwat had almost a robotic response ready to the question about Adil, a labourer at the campus believed to be one of the alleged facilitators. It was evident that the VC had uttered these lines many times before.

“I have been told that Adil started working at the campus sometime in 2014. His alleged involvement highlights that it’s virtually impossible for the educational institutes to ensure flawless security in the campuses. Parents, relatives, drivers, workers, so many people come inside the premises on a daily basis. How can we monitor every single one of them?”

He said modern technology had made facilitating terror attacks that much easier. “Every phone has a camera these days. Anyone coming inside the campus can take images of the institute, map out the blocks, monitor activity and devise a plan of action. There is nothing we can do with our limited resources.”

The university officials already had wired cameras fitted all over the campus. These cameras captured videos of the perpetrators, helping the security officials trace the attackers. The video wasn’t available to be showed to the media over security concerns.

Dr Marwat said there are over 3,000 students enrolled in the university. On the day of the attack there were an additional 600 guests expected for a poetry recital dedicated to Bacha Khan to mark his 28^th death anniversary.

“We are regularly asked why we didn’t have more security in place, if we had an event planned for the day. First of all, the poetry recital was supposed to be held in the afternoon, and the militants launched the attack early in the morning. Secondly, we cannot afford to add security personnel to the campus every time we are hosting an event. We have a debate every Wednesday, where we invite speakers from all over the province. We just don’t have the mechanism or the resources to add more personnel on a weekly basis. But yes, for annual events like the Sports Gala for instance, we add more security.”

Was it mere coincidence that the terror attack was launched on Bacha Khan’s death anniversary? Although he didn’t acknowledge the direct correlation, Dr Marwat claimed there was symbolism associated with the attack.

“This was an attempt to convey a clear message for everyone who stands for peace. As the APS attack confirmed, the educational institutions are being targeted for two obvious reasons. First, they are soft targets, which unfortunately are more vulnerable. Second, there’s a war of curricula going on – a war of narratives. The terrorists aren’t just targeting schools because they want people dead, they specifically want students dead, and educational institutes engulfed by fear. To win this war of narratives the state would have to step up the security of the educational institutions, because they clearly are a now very obvious and deliberate target for the terrorists, who don’t like their ideology being challenged.”

As BKU was shut down among other educational institutes all over Pakistan over security concerns, a three-member inquiry committee had been formed in the aftermath of the attack. Dr Marwat brushed off the committee’s creation, deeming it superfluous. For him the causes behind the attack were obvious.

“As long as the government doesn’t step up and take ownership of the security, all investigations are pointless. The inquiry committee has been designed to shift responsibility. It will hold the Vice Chancellor of the Bacha Khan University responsible for the attack on January 20.”

In the 25-minute interview, Dr Marwat didn’t exhibit any urgency. He never mentioned the fact that other people are in a queue to talk to him about the attack. Having ensured that there weren’t any other questions, he generously asked us to stay over for lunch, before politely standing up to bid us adieu.

Two days later, on January 31, the three-member committee submitted its report to the government. The report said that “security in-charge, Ashfaq Ahmad, had completely mismanaged the security issue. His sole duty was security, but he has had no [relevant] training or expertise”. It further claimed that eight security guards of the university who were supposed to be on duty were absent at the time of the attack; four being absent and four others having run away.

The report held Vice Chancellor, Dr Fazlur Rahim Marwat responsible for “failing to put in place a proper security mechanism even though the police had warned against the worst security on the campus.”

Khuldune Shahid is a journalist

based in Lahore

“I went out to see if it was a prank by naughty students”

As per his usual routine, Dr Abdus Sattar, the Dean of Sciences at Bacha Khan University arrived in his office around 8:30 am on January 20. He had friends visiting, along with their family. As he was having breakfast with his friends in the office, he heard the first burst of fire. It was around 9:00 am.

“I went out to see whether it was a prank by one of the naughty students,” Dr Sattar said. “As the firing got heavier, we knew this was no prank. The sound of a grenade blast from the bus parking confirmed the university was under attack.”

Four militants had entered the university premises from the back wall adjacent to the staff residences. They passed the guest-house, killing the in-charge Fakhr-e-Alam, before proceeding towards the main campus.

“We could hear that a firing exchange was going right outside the admin section. One of my friends called the control room to ask for help, while we asked everyone in the block to stay inside. Meanwhile, one of our security guards Shehzad kept the militants away from this part of the university. Had the attackers found the admin section everyone would’ve forgotten APS,” Dr Sattar claimed.

Nearly a hundred female students were present in the block at the time, along with many staff members. Both the girls’ common room and the staff room were in the same block.

“We just sat there waiting for our death,” the Dean of Sciences said.

Security guard Shehzad Ali said that he knew he had to ensure that militants didn’t enter the admin block, considering the number of people inside. “Fog and Allah almighty helped us protect the students inside,” he said.

Dr Sattar said that the Police had arrived by 9:30 am. “It was a quick response by them. The army was here by 10:30 am as well. Considering the distance they had to travel and the fog that day, we’re happy that they arrived before more damage was done.”

'Had the attackers found the admin section everyone would've forgotten APS'

He added that Army helicopters hovered over the boys’ hostel and the security personnel went straight towards the same area as well. “The terrorists were inside the boys’ hostel and we could hear the firing here in the admin section. Once the army personnel arrived the firing became heavier obviously.”

The university has decided to completely revamp the boys’ hostel. All rooms are being painted all over again, with the damaged walls, windows and stairs being fixed.

“We want to erase all memories of the attack, and help our students return to normalcy,” Dr Sattar said.