LAHORE, An advocate has filed a constitutional petition before the Lahore High Court (LHC), seeking closure of all educational institutions across the country until December 31 due to security threats. Petitioner Ijaz Ahmad Awan said hundreds of innocent people had lost their lives in a recent wave of bomb blasts and suicide attacks.

He said terrorists did not even spare students, as they had attacked the International Islamic University in Islamabad. He said the Pakistan Army had been fighting the Taliban and had many lives had been sacrificed protecting the country. He said the Taliban were particularly targeting girl schools in Swat and Northern Areas, adding that they wanted to destroy the country’s economy and education system. He said English-medium educational institutions were also on the hit list of terrorists. He said that all educational institutions in Pakistan should be closed immediately in order to save the lives of innocent students, especially schoolchildren.

He said the move would allow the army and law enforcement agencies to focus more on uprooting terrorism. He said the federal and provincial governments had issued directions to all educational institutions to adopt security measures, but many of them had failed to provide foolproof security to their students, while it is impossible for the state to provide security to every individual or institution.

He said attendance at educational institutions had also dropped considerably due to security threats and even the teachers were unable to pay full attention to their jobs. He requested the court that the federal government should be directed to issue an order, declaring early winter vacations and Eid holidays.