Pakistan: Terror Arrest Puts Spotlight on Universities
| Publisher | Jamestown Foundation |
| Author | Alexander Sehmer |
| Publication Date | 21 April 2017 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 8 |
| Cite as | Jamestown Foundation, Pakistan: Terror Arrest Puts Spotlight on Universities, 21 April 2017, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 8, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590c302a4.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Link to original story on Jamestown website
Pakistani security forces in Lahore have foiled an alleged plot to bomb a church over Easter, capturing a suspected female militant in the process whose subsequent confession has provoked much media interest and raised concerns about the extent of radicalization in Pakistan's universities.
Noreen Leghari, a second year medical student at Liaquat University in Sindh province, was arrested after an army raid foiled the planned Easter Sunday attack. Her husband, who appears to have masterminded the plot, was killed in the ensuing shootout, and security forces recovered explosives and suicide jackets at the scene (Dawn, April 16). In a videotaped confession, Leghari told the authorities she had travelled to Lahore of her own free will and was to be a suicide bomber in the operation (Samaa, April 17; The News, April 18).
Leghari had been missing from her family home in Hyderabad since February. Police appear to have been aware that she had circulated extremist material online before going missing, and they suspected that she had joined Islamic State (IS) and travelled to Syria for training (Dawn, April 17). Her family, meanwhile, insists she was kidnapped and say she has no connection with the group (Punjab News Express, April 17).
Wading into the media coverage, Liaquat University, where Leghari was studying, has been keen to distance itself from events. Vice Chancellor Naushad Sheikh characterized Lehjari to journalists as an introvert and suggested she was radicalized online and recruited through social media, rather than as a result of anyone she encountered on the campus (Geo News, April 17). The university's concerns are understandable. Pakistani institutions feel unfairly characterized as places of radicalization, but they battle against bad publicity and claims their administrations do too little to tackle the issue.
This month a journalism student at Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan was killed by a lynch mob of fellow students, apparently for posting "blasphemous" material online (Dawn, April 15). So far 24 people have been arrested, and the university has suspended seven of its employees (Geo News, April 18). Last year, counter-terrorism forces rounded up lecturers at institutions across Punjab province accused of having connections to the banned Islamist group Hizbut Tahrir (The News, June 13, 2016). Meanwhile, in Sindh, one report suggested about a dozen female students have gone missing from institutions across the province, ostensibly to join IS (The News, March 18).
Such incidents suggest fears about Pakistani universities cannot be entirely dismissed. While young Pakistanis - in keeping with their tech-savvy counterparts elsewhere in the world - doubtless face dangers online, recent events suggest the country's universities need to do more to combat radicalization on their campuses.