Islamabad--One of Pakistan's top universities came under fire Thursday after a debate on rights in the restive southwestern province of Baluchistan was cancelled apparently at the behest of intelligence agencies.
The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) had organised a panel discussion for Thursday entitled "Un-silencing Baluchistan", featuring campaigners from the province as well as academics, activists and journalists.
But the event was cancelled at short notice after the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency intervened, according to a LUMS academic and one of the panellists.
Human rights groups have long accused Pakistani security forces and intelligence agencies of serious abuses in Baluchistan, which has been wracked for years by a separatist insurgency.
The security services deny the allegations and say they are battling a fierce rebellion in the province.
Baluchistan, Pakistan's largest but least populous province, is unquestionably a sensitive subject for the security forces and they keep close tabs on anyone suspected of promoting separatism.
"Two intelligence officials came to the university and told the head of department that they had direct orders from Director General of the ISI to cancel the event," Taimour Rehman, an assistant professor at the university, told AFP.
He said the officials told academics the event would "bring a bad name to the country" and showed them a letter from the ISI chief ordering the cancellation.
Rehman said the department head offered to change the panel, dropping or adding people to rebalance it, but they refused.
Among the panellists was Abdul Qadir Baloch, known as Mama (uncle) Qadir, an activist who campaigns for information on people who have "disappeared" during the long-running conflict in Baluchistan.
Last month Qadir was hit with a travel ban as he was about to leave for a rights conference in New York.
AFP
