Pakistan:
Students protest against music classes

In Lahore, the student wing of Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) has intensified its protest campaign against the start of music classes in Punjab University, writes Gulfnews.com

IJT activists have been staging protests inside the university premises on a daily basis against the decision to start a master's level programme, MA Musicology, on the university.

The studens are pressing the Punjab Governor, who is also the chancellor of the university, to reverse the decision of starting music classes because the believe music is un-Islamic and against the ideology of Pakistan.

According to Gulfnews.com, a large number of the IJT activists distributed leaflets outside the varsity mosque in the Old and New Campus of the University on 8 and 9 September, and raised slogans against the varsity administration for starting MA Music classes in the varsity.

The president of the IJT's Punjab University chapter, Salman Ayub, said that IJT would aggressively and openly oppose music and other performing arts classes in the university. He said the Punjab University administration was promoting "Western culture" and "unhealthy activities" in the campus.

The Punjab University Academic Staff Association (PUASA) is also criticising the varsity administration for starting admissions to the MA Music classes. According to the PUASA President Prof Dr Mumtaz Salik, the Association would oppose "negative activities" like music, drama and acting in the university.