Details: The Lahore High Court on Friday set aside Bahauddin Zakariya University’s (BZU) decision to postpone the admission of an Ahmadi student, calling the university’s action “persecution.” What happened: In September, Umer Taimur Tahir was accepted into the BZU’s Pharm-D programme on a minority quota. However, the institution had cancelled his admission on October 11, without alerting him providing grounds, as required by the court order. The student went against the varsity’s decision to cancel his admittance in a petition to the high court, claiming that he was “treated as an object and not a human being.” In his order, Justice Muhammad Shan Gul noted that the student’s suspension “amounts to persecuting the already persecuted.” He claimed the university’s decision demonstrated a “conscious disrespect for minority rights” as well as a lack of regard for pupils. What does the law say: Article 36 of the Constitution, according to Justice Gul, protects the legitimate rights and interests of minorities. “Even this right included in Article 22 of the Constitution, as well as the principle of policy contained in Article 36 of the Constitution, obviously safeguard the petitioner from such attacks,” the judge noted. More: The court directed that the student’s petition be given to the vice-chancellor, along with a copy of the court ruling, “so that he could take a paternalistic stance in the situation and ensure that the petitioner is not dealt badly.” The vice-chancellor was also directed to investigate the incident and determine why the petitioner had been singled out “for such callous and insensitive treatment.”