Heart of Punjab: Killing of student on PU campus grim reminder of growing crime in institutions

The tragic death of 22-year-old Aditya Thakur, who was fatally stabbed during a concert on the Panjab University’s South Campus in Chandigarh on March 28, is a grim reminder of the growing violence in educational institutions.

This incident, occurring just four months after a visitor reportedly died of a suspected drug overdose in a boys’ hostel in the same university, has once again raised questions about security in educational institutions.

Universities are meant to be centres of learning, intellectual debate and personal growth. However, the frequency of violent incidents suggests that these institutions are facing serious law-and-order challenges. The tragedy at the PU is not an isolated case. Over the years, multiple educational institutions in Punjab have reported incidents of violence, some linked to student group rivalries and broader concerns about security on the campuses.

In 2023, a student of Punjabi University, Patiala, was stabbed to death on the campus. In 2015, a student was stabbed multiple times inside his hostel room in Panjab University.

In 2014, a minor boy was shot dead just outside Government College in Muktsar over a dispute between two groups. In 2012, a girl student of Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar was murdered at the main gate of the university. In 2011, a student was killed at Lovely Professional University in Phagwara over a dispute during a football match.

The deaths of Aditya Thakur and others before him show that crime in educational institutions is not just a one-time problem —it’s happening again and again. More students are getting caught up in fights, putting their safety at risk.

Many institutes reportedly don’t have enough security, drugs are easy to find, and some student groups have links to criminal activities. Due to this, violence keeps happening, and little seems to have been done to stop it.

Recently, while addressing a conclave at Punjab Raj Bhavan, Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria suggested to vice-chancellors of universities in the state that a campus should be publicised as “drug free” if it genuinely was, and if not, efforts should be intensified until that status was achieved.