Quaid-e-Azam University: How did the Vice-Chancellor survive the assassination attempt during the flag hoisting ceremony?

           Quaid-e-Azam University: Islamabad

Quaid-e-Azam University: Islamabad

What are you doing? He told me to step back or I will shoot. As soon as he spoke of the bullet, I immediately jumped on him and firmly held his hand and turned towards the sky, and then the sound of fire rang in my ears. I held his hand more firmly, after which my other companions grabbed him from behind.

This story was told by Quaid-e-Azam University Professor Dr. Ishtiaq Ali, who foiled an assassination attempt on the vice-chancellor of the university participating in the flag hoisting ceremony in Islamabad, the federal capital of Pakistan, on Pakistan's Independence Day.

According to university registrar Raja Qaiser, the incident took place after the flag hoisting ceremony at the Central Library, when a man pulled a pistol on the vice-chancellor and fired three shots.

Vice-Chancellor Dr. Muhammad Ali Shah confirmed the attack on him and said that he survived today because of his colleague's presence of mind. 

According to him, the accused has been working on contract at the university since 2016 but he has never had direct contact with me.

Professor Dr. Ishtiaq Ali

The police have arrested the accused and registered a case of this incident. In his initial statement, the accused told the police that he has been working for seven or eight years on a very low salary, but he is not being given permanent employment.

According to Dr. Ishtiaq Ali, "As soon as the accused placed the pistol on the vice-chancellor's couch, I was standing at a distance of about one meter with two other colleagues." I immediately shouted and said, "What are you doing? Just as soon as the words of the bullet came out of his tongue, then without thinking, I jumped on him and held his hand."

"Vice Chancellor is not scared at all"

He said that he did all this within two or three seconds and the main reason for his success was that the Vice-Chancellor did not panic at all and stood with great composure, due to which the accused could not succeed in his intention.

According to Dr. Ishtiaq, when he was holding the accused's hand, he was trying to somehow free his hand and fire at the vice-chancellor.

According to him, in this attempt, the accused fired three shots, but fortunately, all the people present there, including the Vice-Chancellor, were miraculously safe.

University registrar Raja Qaiser, who was also present at the event, told that the accused was not an employee of the university but an intern in a department.

University professor Dr. Sohail Yusuf, who was with the vice-chancellor at the time of the incident, told that "there is no application on record from the accused in which he talked about permanent employment".