"Asad Gujjar and Hafiz Mazhar Qayyum, students of University Law College, were sleeping in their room 215 in hostel number 16 (Hazrat Ali Hall) at 3am on Dec 3 when some Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT) activists forcibly entered into their room and opened fire. They also tortured them with clubs and iron bars," says Ahsan Chaudhry, media secretary University Students Federation (USF), Punjab University who himself got injured in the incident.

"Both Gujjar and Qayyum are members of USF central committee. Later, IJT activists dragged Asad Gujjar from the second floor to the ground floor and then to the main gate and asked him to raise slogans in favour of Jamiat. When he refused, they hit his head with clubs. Both students are admitted in a hospital where doctors have declared their condition critical.

"After teaching them a lesson, they went to other USF members in the same hostel and tortured them with clubs and rods. Atif Ranjha, Naseemullah, Shajar Abbas, Khurram Shahzad Butt, Azhar Subhani, Almas, Ali Abbas, Ali Hasan and myself are the other USF members who were injured by IJT activists that night," he goes on to say.

According to Ahsan, on Dec 2 at around 8pm, some 150 IJT activists gathered in hostel 1 and came to hostel 16 in the shape of a procession. "They were raising slogans in favour of Jamiat. USF President Atif Naeem was also present in hostel number 16 at that time. Some IJT activists slapped him for no reason and fled away. He called us and in no time around 200 members of USF gathered in hostel number 16. We staged a peaceful protest against IJT hooliganism for three hours and dispersed around midnight and went back to to our rooms in different hostels. Three hours later, more than 200 IJT activists trespassed into hostel number 16 at around 3am and launched their operation against USF."

Amir thinks that IJT wants to frighten USF members who believe in the philosophy of "non-violence" "but they are forcing a non-violent student organisation to turn into a violent one."

Ahsan Chaudhry admits that there is pressure on them to use force against force. "Fear pervades the campus after the incident. We are facing pressure from our families and friends. We have been receiving threats from IJT, constantly, of more severe consequences if we do not leave politics. We are forced to spend nights outside campus because security situation in hostels is very poor but we are committed to our organisation and to the change that we have promised to the students ? of making PU a true educational institution."

While talking to TNS, PU IJT acting Nazim, Qaiser Sharif denies all these allegations. "The IJT had scheduled a Difa-e-Pakistan March in the university. Our members went to invite students from Hostel Number 16 that night. There, the USF members started misbehaving and IJT only reacted."

He says it was an attempt to defame IJT and spoil the environment of the campus. He alleges the university administration is part of this agenda. "Vice Chancellor has also been an active IJT member in the past; has also been doing teachers' politics and now wants to do students' politics. That is why we call it Vice Chancellor's Students Federation (VSF)."

He also denies the involvement of IJT in the firing incident, terming it a conspiracy against IJT. "A few days back, USF had arranged a function and IJT did not interrupt. The USF students had also beaten Law College IJT Nazim and harassed him few days back," he says, adding he challenged the administration and the government to prove if there was any IJT involvement in the firing incident.

He urges the governor and the university to hold free and fair union elections, leaving it to the students to select their favourite party.

"It [the incident of torture of students] was a totally expected move by IJT," says Muhammad Ali Jan, a student activist working from the platform of National Students Federation (NSF). He thinks IJT wants to threaten peaceful students of the varsity of such consequences if they show courage to challenge their monopoly. "A student organisation like USF which believes in philosophy of non-partisan and non-violence does not suit anybody, not even the present democratic government because political elite do not want new leadership from middle class to flourish in Pakistan."

 According to Jan, the future of student politics in PU in particular and other educational institutions in general depends on the reaction of Punjab Government and varsity's administration to this hooliganism. "If they are serious about providing a level playing field to all student organisations, they have to teach a lesson to IJT culprits involved in the torture of USF members," he says. "Though Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer has assured students that assailants will be brought to book, the person who matters is Mian Shahbaz Sharif and so far he has not issued a Punjab Government policy statement on the incident."

The Muslim Town police has also registered a case against 17 suspects involved in this incident, all belonging to IJT, on the complaint of USF President Atif Naeem. No arrests have been made so far.

Allama Iqbal Town division SP, Sohail Chaudhry, says the FIR has been registered and the police could not enter the varsity hostels without a written request from the varsity administration. "We are committed to arrest culprits involved in firing at the campus but all of them have fled and that is why we are unable to arrest them." He tells TNS 400 policemen searched hostels and handed over IJT activists belongings to the varsity administration and also locked the rooms of the culprits. "The police will stay on campus till the varsity's force requisition is not called off."

University high officials know the situation very well but seem powerless to solve the problem. "It is a fact that PU hostels are unsafe from security point of view," admits Professor Dr Saeed Ahmad Nagra, Chairman Hall Council, the regulatory body of PU hostels and also member of PU disciplinary committee.

"It is a fact that IJT charges bhatta from many shopkeepers on the hostel side and many shopkeepers are on its payroll. Many of the administrative staff as well as academic staff of the university also belong to Jamaat. Sons of senior teachers of the university are also very active on IJT platform. It is not easy for the new administration to wipe them out completely from the university in a few months but we are striving our level best to curb them," he says. The IJT spokesperson denies all these allegations while talking to TNS, saying it is easy to level such charges but difficult to prove them.

 According to him university administration needs full-fledged support of Punjab government to wipe out such elements from the university.

• Musical Show at Alhamra Arts Council, The Mall on December 24 in Hall I from 8am to 2pm and on 28th December in Hall III from 7pm-10pm.

• A Pakistani film is shown at Alhamra, Hall III, The Mall every Thursday at 8pm.

• Puppet Show at Alhamra, The Mall every Sunday at 11am.

• Talent Hunt Show (singing) every Saturday at 7pm at Alhamra, The Mall.

• Panjabi Sangat is a weekly gathering every Friday and Sunday at Najam Hussain Sayed's house at 7pm where Punjabi classical poetry is read, interpreted and sung. The Sangat has been going on for the last 30-40 years. Any person who chooses to visit the Sangat can freely and actively participate in the above mentioned activities.

• Each Thursday there is a music and dance performance at the shrine of Baba Shah Jamal. The music usually starts around 11 O'clock upstairs with Gonga and Mitou Saeen (picture) and "round midnight downstairs with the performance of Pappoo Saeen and Joora Saeen. The dancing usually takes place around 1:30 am.

• Sufi Night every Thursday at Peeru's Cafe at 9pm.

• Ghazal Night every Friday at the theatre adjacent to the Peeru's cafe building.

• Jazz Night with Jazz Moods every Saturday at Peeru's Cafe at 9pm. Rock music sessions are also being organised on alternative weekends where underground rock music band perform live.

• Qawwali Night every Friday at Alhamra,

The Mall at 7pm.

Despite the decrease in fuel prices the private franchised bus companies and wagons are still overcharging the passengers and do not agree to reduce their fares. Not even a single initiative has been taken by the government to bring down the fares and pass on the benefit of decrease in fuel prices, to the passengers.

A survey conducted by The News on Sunday finds that majority of the franchised bus companies are overcharging the commuters after the reduction in fuel prices. The stop by stop fare has gone down by Rs. 2 while there is little difference in the rest of the fares, it has been observed.

According to Punjab Transport Department the number of franchised buses running on city roads is 734 which does not meet the requirement of passengers. The department officials say that as many as 900 more buses are required to fulfill the transportation needs of Lahorites.

On the other hand some franchised buses running on the city roads have serious mechanical problems like malfunctioning of brakes which can cause accidents anytime. The bodies of these buses are mostly in rundown condition which pose discomfort to the passengers traveling in them.

The fittings in the buses are also broken. The commuters complain that hardly any franchised bus has complete body structure and components such as indicators, doors, seats and passenger support bars. Handles and windows are usually broken. Complaints like cracked windscreens, headlights, lights at the back and crack in the seats have been received. Most of the windows are immovable which cause suffocation and in times of emergency, great distress to the passengers who are transported like sheep and cattle in these public buses because buses are less than required and the commuters don't have a choice.

The franchised bus companies are not paying attention towards maintenance of buses. The government provides a handsome subsidy to the transport companies for the sake of safe and efficient public transport system but they do not maintain their buses despite getting subsidy on every bus. Traveling in buses in Lahore is still an unpleasant experience, not that one would choose.

Even a commonman can easily see that many of them have serious mechanical faults like smoky engines, unfit brakes, leaking oil etc. Majority of the buses are without tail lights and indicators while where lights are there, they don't work at all. Some of the buses are even without headlights and can cause serious accidents anytime.

One wonders how and why the transport department issues and renews fitness certificates to such kind of buses against the standing rules and regulations. These fitness certificates have to be renewed after every six months by the transport department officials and traffic police after proper inspection of the public transport vehicles.

Most of the buses have broken doors which cause injuries and pose hazards to the passengers, particularly students, who stand next to doors. According to the rules every passenger bus must have an emergency door to provide exit route to passengers in case of fire or accidents but they simply don't work. Similarly fire extinguishers are also totally missing in the passenger buses.

While talking to TNS, Usman Hameed, a doctor said that the amount of smoke the public buses and wagons are emitting on the city roads is the major cause of increasing environmental pollution in the city causing serious diseases to the citizens such as Asthma, flu, irritation of eyes and some kind of skin throat disease. He said Punjab transport department should take strict measures to resolve these problems.

Many students are seen traveling on the roof of the buses because of shortage of buses. Besides private school students complained that they have no departmental cards due to which they do not get discount. The transport department should provide them passes so that they can also avail the much needed discount that other students enjoy, they said.

When contacted, Additional Secretary Punjab Transport Department Izhar Ahmad said that Punjab government wants to launch new additional buses but the operators do not agree to that. They demand removal of illegal routes from the city, first.

As many as 170,000 motorcycle rickshaws are present in the city on different routes. Bus operators further demand shifting of these motorcycle rickshaws from the city. Izhar Ahmad said that a summary is in process in which the department has asked SSP Traffic to give the transport department 210 traffic wardens to remove the illegal routes in the city.

About fares, he said, "We increased the fare only when the diesel price went up but we did not increase it when the diesel price went up the second time. Therefore, we only reduced our fares by two rupees that is according to the percentage of current diesel price. We are holding meetings with bus operators and soon the new fare would be launched in the city."

The ever increasing financial constraints have deprived the majority of the Pakistanis of the voluntary spending on sacrificial goats on Eid-ul-Azha.

According to recent surveys and newspaper reports, the sale and purchase of sacrificial animals is decreasing every year on account of the sky-high prices. This can be countered by promoting rearing of sacrificial animals at community level. Doing that will not only bring down the prices but develop employment opportunities as well.

The idea is to set up a sustainable and profitable system. A person should be chosen from the community to take charge of raising sacrificial animals for a year. For this he is to be paid around Rs 1,000 a month. As a result, each family can have a goat for Rs 12,000 at the end of the year. It's not even difficult to implement this idea. The scheme can be run by a group of people living in a society, street and even a single family with someone appointed to look after the financial matters. Not a bad idea for retired people. Housing societies can have their separate projects and schemes using vacant plots. What better idea to bring the community together at Eid?

vaqargillani@gmail.com

'4 Eyes -- A Photographic Journey' was organised by Danka and Lahore Chitrkar from 27-29 November. The work displayed ranged from architecture, event photography to pictures from several places in Pakistan taken by Lukas Berger and Waheed Khalid.

Walking through the yellow gate of Lahore Chitrkar, into a room with white sheets laid on its floor and photographs of different sizes hung up on its white walls, one was reminded of the similarity between cameras and dogs. Alec Soth once said, "Cameras are like dogs but dumb, and toward quarry, even more faithful. They point -- they render, and defy the photographer who hopes. Photography investigates no deeper relief than surfaces. It is superficial, in the first sense of the word; it studies the shape and skin of things, that which can be seen. By a passionate extension of this, its most profound meanings have to do with immanence, the indwelling grace of what Zen calls our ten thousand facts. This is not transport, or celestial transcendence, but that more footed joy and grief found near any clear sighting of the word."

Photography is a frustrating medium. Fragmentary, frozen and mute -- photographs can never match the immersive pleasures of film or music but Waheed Khalid's photographs had certain vibrancy to them. He approaches cultural events and festivals with a certain eye, perhaps to emphasize the significance of Pakistani/ Lahori culture and atmosphere. His portrait of Ali Azmat in concert had an abstract feel to it. From wherever it begins, a photograph ends as a cupped abstraction: the thing capsized, stripped, and projected as an image. If made well, it will give its own shape of delight.

While Khalid's photographs had a certain sheen to them, from his experience in the field and his mastery over Photoshop as a darkroom, Lukas Berger's photographs are all together a very different experience.

Lukas Berger came to Lahore 15 months ago, after giving his A Levels in Austria, and joined Danka as a photographer. According to him, he started taking photography seriously 8 months ago when he went off to see a wide range of other places mainly in North Punjab and Sindh. By seeing his colour photographs, one can say, that if Berger continues to photograph he may find his true voice. Stephen Shore, a famous photographer said: "Colour film is wonderful because it shows not only the intensity but the colour of light. There is so much variation in light between noon one day and the next, between ten in the morning and two in the afternoon. A picture happens when something inside connects, an experience that changes as the photographer does."

So is true of Berger's work. His portraits and landscapes evoke a peaceful feeling; it showed his enjoyment with the camera, as if time actually stood there for him to take a photograph. That might be true for all photographs but not all of them evoke the same feeling. The other feature of his work was his humane eye towards our culture, faces and places.