It has been three days but those who attempted to murder professor Akhtar Khan of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan have yet to be identified. Students and faculty members of Abdul Wali Khan University protested against the assault on professor of political science Akhtar Khan.
Students carried posters with slogans in favour of their teacher and condemning the violence against him. Students demanded the registration of an FIR and the arrest of the accused.
Professor Akhtar Khan said that on Tuesday, when he sat on his motorcycle after shopping at ‘Mega Mart’, four armed men accosted him. When people present on the spot tried to resist, the armed men took out pistols and threatened them. They assaulted the professor and threatened him.
The professor said said that he had no enmity with anyone, and that the assault was attempt to murder him. “I am working for human rights. Whoever is oppressed, whose honour is threatened, whoever is extra judicially tortured, I stand with them and I will always raise my voice for them,” professor Akhtar Khan said.
Mardan city mayor Himayatullah Mayar also participated in the protest. He called for a transparent inquiry into the assault and public torture of professor Akhtar Khan.
Journalist Jamal Safi told The Friday Times that raising voice for human rights on social media is not a crime, and the type of attack on professor Akhtar Khan was actually an assault on free expression. He said such incidents aimed to suppress freedom of expression, which is a constitutionally protected and guaranteed right for all citizens of Pakistan.
Law student Waqas Ahmad, who participated in the protest, told The Friday Times that Article 9 of the Constitution guaranteed security of life for every citizen of the state. He added that the protests were in solidarity not only with professor Akhtar Khan, but in solidarity with every human rights defender.
Dr. Said Alam Mehsud, founder of Pukhtunkhwa Olasi Tehreek, told The Friday Times that professor Akhtar Khan is “one of the people who stood bravely against religious extremists”. Dr. Mehsud added that professor Khan is “also one of the ambassadors of a progressive mind in the university”.
While professor Akhtar Khan has raised concerns publicly about corruption and harassment of females inside the university, it is so far not clear what reason he was targeted for.
Mardan police say that they are investigating the incident, but prematurely suspected that it was either personal enmity or a terror attack.
It should be remembered that attacks on human rights activists are increasing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. On January 7 in Swabi, human rights activist Abdul Wahid Khan was killed on his doorstep by unknown gunmen.
