Academic opinion divided on police return to campuses

A decision by an Egyptian court this week reinstating police guards at public universities has drawn mixed responses, just before academic institutions were due to resume classes.

The court order came more than three years after police guards were removed from universities and replaced by civilian security guards.

Since the academic year started in Egypt late last September, several state-run universities have been rocked by violent protests blamed on students backing former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed by the military in July last year following massive street demonstrations against his one-year rule.

Explaining its ruling, the Court for Urgent Matters said that student protests were so violent that they disrupted classes.

“The government also failed to take the necessary measures to protect Egyptians from the disruptive behaviour of some university students, who sought to impose their views by force on others,” said the court.

Pro-Morsi students have repeatedly taken to the streets outside universities demanding his reinstatement. On several occasions they clashed with police, who arrested dozens of students and put them on trial. Several students have already been given jail terms on charges of involvement in violence.

Support from vice-chancellors

“The university does not object to the return of police guards so long as this comes under a court ruling,” said Gaber Nassar, president of Cairo University, Egypt’s major public higher education institution.

“The violence seen by universities during the first term of the academic year has made it necessary to take new measures to protect these institutions.”

The Egyptian government has twice postponed re-opening university gates, extending the mid-year break by two weeks due to security concerns. Barring a new delay, classes are scheduled to resume on 8 March.

In an apparent bid to abort fresh protests on campuses, the country’s caretaker President Adly Mansour recently issued a decree, giving university presidents greater powers to expel students found guilty of “committing subversive acts and disruption of the educational process”.

Osama El-Abd, president of Al-Azhar University – Egypt’s major Islamic seminary, which has seen violent protests by Islamist students – also favours re-posting police guards at academic institutions.

“My support emanates from my keenness to protect students’ interests and ensure the continuation of the educational process.” He added that civilian security personnel had been found unable to keep order on the campus.

But some lecturers, students wary

Laila Soueif, a pro-university independence lecturer, disagrees. “The return of police to universities at this tense time will anger students and inflame the situation,” she said.

“Students, whether backing Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood or not, agree on one thing: detesting the police.”

For decades, Egyptian security agencies have been accused of interfering in academic affairs and harassing political opponents at universities.

Since the ouster of Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, thousands of people – including students – have been detained in a security crackdown, allegedly for inciting or involvement in violence.

“The decision to send police back to universities will only make matters worse,” said Mohamed Salah, head of the student union at the state-run Ain Shams University in Cairo.

“It is likely to stir students’ anger, and trigger a new wave of protests at universities that may prompt cancellation of classes.”

He added that rather than relying on police for securing universities, civilian security guards should be better trained for the job.