Dozens of protestors on Saturday called on the federal government to secure the immediate release of the students of Punjab University now in police custody in Lahore since Tuesday. Holding banners and placards and chanting slogans against the police and the government outside the Karachi Press Club, they said the terrorism charges against the Pakhtun and Baloch students should be dropped for the clash between them and the Jamiat-e-Talaba-e-Islam, the Jamaat-e-Islami's students wing which they called a violent organization.
Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal should take action against the Punjab police action and ensure a safe release of the students, with the terrorism charges against them being dropped. Another of their main demands was for the government to lift the ban on students unions across the country.
The demonstrators said the students' arrest on Tuesday was "shameful and unlawful," complaining that "real terrorists" were at large while protesting students were under arrest. The protesters belonged to a number of political and civil rights organizations, including the Pukhtunkhwa Students Organization and the Human Rights Commission, took part in the protest.