Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi chaired a meeting here on Monday, where the preliminary report on the Islamia University Bahawalpur (IUB) video scandal was presented.

Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!

In response to an investigation committee’s findings, he announced formation of a judicial commission and expressed his intention to formally request the chief justice of the Lahore High Court for its establishment. To ensure a comprehensive inquiry, the case has been transferred from Bahawalpur to Lahore.

During the meeting, it was decided to create anti-harassment cells in all universities, including the IUB, with female professors appointed as heads of these cells. Furthermore, a dedicated provincial-level anti-harassment cell will be established, led by a female secretary. The three-member investigation committee, led by DIG Special Branch Faisal Ali Raja, presented its report in the meeting.

The Bahawalpur police have already apprehended varsity Treasurer Prof Dr Abubakar, Chief Security Officer (CSO) Ijaz Husain Shah and Transport Officer Altaf on drug charges.

The investigation also revealed their involvement in blackmail and sexual exploitation of some students and faculty members within the campus.

Upon the surfacing of this scandal, the caretaker chief minister established a high-level three-member committee to conduct an in-depth inquiry into the matter. The committee members included Punjab Minerals Secretary Babar Aman, DIG Special Branch Faisal Ali Raja, and Internal Accountability Branch (IAB) DIG Amin Bukhari.

The committee’s findings not only implicated the IUB’s chief security officer, treasurer and others, it also shed light on the university’s poor administration and illegal local police involvement in some varsity affairs.

Federal Minister for Food Security Tariq Bashir Cheema had already denied involvement of his son in the scam. Addressing a press conference accompanied by his son, Walidad Cheema, at his residence here on Sunday, the minister alleged that his political rivals were bent upon defaming and damaging him politically.

Mr Cheema’s press conference on the issue and denial come after a journalist posted a vlog on his social media account, alleging that the minister’s son was the actual cause of the scandal and police action.

He had alleged that the arrests of the chief security officer of the IUB and others were made not to expose the criminal activities and curb the drugs but to get the videos that had Tariq Cheema’s son in them.

Table of Contents