Islamist storm Yemen University, independent students decide to fight back

By: Mohammed al-Kibsi

Sana'a, Sep 18, 2011- On the first day of the academic year the students affiliated to Islah party supported by their militias and by the defected army soldiers stormed Sana’a University and prevented students from studying.

Hundreds of protesters mainly the Islamists broke into the university and forced the students out of lectures halls on Saturday and Sunday.

They also closed the halls and classrooms with locks.

When confronted by some students they brought their militias from the protesting site located out of the university and forced all students out.

Later they organized a demonstration in the yards of the university vowing “No Education and no study until the president is ousted”

The angry independent students organized a rival demo vowing “No politics no politicians yes for education and we want to study”.

Eyewitnesses said that some of the anti regime protesters supported by the defected army soldiers and Islah militias smashed the car of the rector of Sana’a University Prof Khalid Tamim and mistreated him.

They also said that the attackers smashed glasses of the cars of other tutors and officials of Sana’a University.

Howaida Hashim a student at the engineering college , computing department said that militants broke into the computing laboratory and forced her and her classmates out of the lab on Saturday.

She added that they later locked the whole building imprisoning all students and educators inside the building for several hours.

Another student said that a professor tried to stand on the way of the protesters and the soldiers that were backing them from entering to the building but he said that they pushed her back from her chest knocking her down before they could break into the building.

Wadiea Mohammed a student at the engineering college, mechanic department said that he and his classmates went to the college so as to study because they had already wasted 8 months without any education.

“when we arrived at the university we found the members of the student union that is controlled by the Islah party were on the gate of the main lectures hall and they told us to go home or else,” said Mohammed.

“ I waited for few minutes until my classmates arrived and when we found out that we are a majority and that they were a minority we decided to confront them and to express our demand to resume studying”

Ali Mohammed, a student at the engineering college said that last year supposed to be his final year but he couldn’t graduate because the university was closed down as a result of the uprising.

“We took part in the demonstrations against the regime because we wanted more freedoms and to get rid of corruption,” said Ali.

“However now we want to resume education and continue our demands but these people from Islah party have been following the instructions of their leaderships and they have been blocking our freedoms”

“We found out that they are worse than the regime that we are revolting against”

Several students affirmed that the Islah affiliates do not want students to resume education because if all the students of the university came back to education they will represent a majority at the protesting site and this will affect on decision making at the protesting site.

“Now all the protesters in the tents at the protesting site are from Islah part in addition to few others from the rest of the Joint Meeting Parties but there is no one from the independent youth at the protesting site,” said Shadi Abdu.

On Sunday the protesters repeated the same provocations as they came backed by the defected army soldiers and forced the educators and the students out of the studying halls.

Students said that the Islamist protesters backed by the defected army soldiers broke into many halls in all university colleges.

At the civil engineering department they ordered Professor Osama al-Shibami out of the studying hall and when he rejected they attacked him and when the students defended him the defected army soldiers directed their guns at the Professor and at the students forcing him out of the lectures hall.

These events took place prior to the confrontations broke out between the security forces and between the protesters backed by the defected army and the militias of Islah party in different locations in the capital resulting in killing 26 and wounding over 47 in addition to wounding 65 anti riots policemen.

I could not post this news earlier as the power went off all the day in Sana’a since 6 am till 11 30 pm.