ISLAMABAD: With Baloch students still boycotting classes at the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Education Minister Balighur Rehman visited the campus on Wednesday and directed the vice chancellor to look into the matter of expelled and rusticated students that protesting students want restored.

The students, meanwhile, met with Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri at Balochistan House. The students said they were assured by Mr Zehri that he would play his role in restoring the expelled students.

QAU students shut down the university campus for 19 days to protest these punishments and called for the students to be restored, as well as calling for another 13 demands. The university agreed to meet nearly all the demands, including withdrawing a 10pc fee increase, but placed the restoration of students before the syndicate.

During a meeting of the university syndicate on Friday, the syndicate formed a committee to review the procedures adopte d by the University Discipline Committee (UDC) to determine how students were punished. According to an official statement released after the meeting, the QAU administration had announced that the `punishment awarded for May 20 incident will not be affected`, which meant that expelled students would not be restored.

The QAU`s University Discipline Committee had expelled and rusticated a number of students for their involvement in a violent clash between Sindhi and Baloch students.

Classes resumed on Monday when five student councils the Punjab Mehran, Seraiki, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakhtun councils called off their protest, but the Baloch Student Council is continuing to strike.

Sources said on Tuesday that the minister directed Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram that the same committee would be authorised to review the cases of all the students rusticated and expelled for their involvement in campus violence on May 20.

Dr Ashraf confirmed that the three member committee constituted by the syndicate should review the punishments awarded for the May 20 clash. `So we have decided that now the same committee will review the punishment awarded to the students. Baloch students say they were attacked by Sindhi students in May and reacted in self-defence.

`We were attacked by the Sindhi Council; we did nothing wrong as we only acted in self-defence, but the university rusticated eight of our students including expelling two, said council chairman Kamran Baloch. He added that they would continue to strike until the students are restored. He also said the student council met with the Balochistan chief minister and informed him of the situation.

He said the chief minister has constituted a five member committee chaired by Balochistan Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti, which will visit QAU on Thursday to investigate the matter and will hold a dialogue with the university administration.

According to the students, the chief minister assured them that if talks with the university fail, he would take up the matter with President Mamnoon Hussain, who is also the university`s chancellor.