In Pakistan, all schools in Punjab are closed after a wave of protests

Demonstrators gathered to condemn the alleged rape of a student, in Karachi, October 18, 2024. RIZWAN TABASSUM / AFP Schools in the Pakistani province of Punjab were closed on Friday October 18 after a wave of student protests, following of messages on social networks reporting the alleged rape of a student in a high school, allegations denied by the management of the establishment. The facts allegedly took place in the basement of a private establishment for girls last weekend. The police, the high school concerned and the local government said no victims had come forward and assured that it was an online disinformation campaign. This closure measure adopted Thursday by the authorities of Pakistan’s most populous province, and which mentions neither the alleged rape nor the demonstrations, extends from nurseries to universities and concerns at least 26 million students. Police arrested a security guard identified through online posts, but said no rape victims had come forward and were unable to corroborate the allegations. “The incident does not exist. I would resign, I would leave this profession and I would go and protest alongside the students if it had really taken place,” said Arif Chaudry, head of the high school cited in the messages, during a press conference on Wednesday. The authors of the messages published on social networks reporting the alleged rape will be “punished”, assured Maryam Sharif, head of local government, on Wednesday. Nearly 400 people arrested But the students accused the authorities of covering up the affair and the demonstrations have since spread to Rawalpindi, a large popular city on the outskirts of Islamabad, after starting in Lahore. During this gathering, clashes broke out with the police, according to journalists on site. Police “arrested 380 students and other protesters,” a Rawalpindi police official said Friday, adding that they were involved in “acts of vandalism and arson.” In Lahore, protesters, mostly young men, smashed windows of school buildings and burned school buses on campuses across the city. These demonstrations reflect growing concerns about sexual violence denounced by female students in educational establishments and the distrust of young Pakistanis towards the authorities. In the country, student unions were banned in 1984. Also read | Pakistan revolted by a collective attack against a woman Add to your selections Le Monde with AFP Reuse this content



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