Fact-check: Has Namal University’s hostel in Islamabad been sealed?

Online users have shared a video on the platform X, Facebook and TikTok accusing authorities in Islamabad of sealing the hostel of Namal University, as part of a larger state crackdown on former prime minister Imran Khan, who is the chairman of the University.

The claim is false.

Claim

On October 28, a verified social media user posted a short video on platform X and wrote that the hostel of Namal University has been sealed.

“Is there any humanity left?” the user added.

In the 56-second video, lifted from TikTok, young men can be seen sitting outside on the road at night, accusing the Capital Development Authority (CDA) of shutting down their hostel and tossing them onto the streets.

The clip had been viewed over 120,000 times, reposted over 4,000 times and liked over 7,900 times, at the time of writing.

On October 27, another verified X account shared the same video and also claiming that the hostel of Namal University had been closed down, adding that students had been forced to take shelter on the streets.

“Namal University was built by Imran Khan to provide free education to poor students,” the user wrote.

This post has been viewed over 53,000 times on X, reposted 1,900 times and liked nearly 2,400 times, to date.

The video also found traction on Facebook as well.

Fact

Namal University, which was established by former prime minister Imran Khan in 2008, is located in Punjab’s city Mianwali, not the federal capital, Islamabad.

While the government-run Capital Development Authority (CDA), which is tasked to provide municipal services, only operates in Islamabad. It has no jurisdiction outside the federal capital.

There is, however, a university in Islamabad with a similar-sounding name to Namal University. This university, the National University of Modern Languages (NUML), has no association with politician Imran Khan.

However, a private hostel was indeed sealed by the CDA on October 27 in the Sector-I area of Islamabad, but the hostel did not belong to either Namal University or NUML University.

Faisal Naeem Baig, the director general of the building control section in CDA, told Geo Fact Check that the students’ hostel was unlawfully set up in a residential area.

Baig then shared notices that CDA had sent to the hostel owner in April 2018 and again in October 2023, warning them to relocate as the hostel was operating in violation of building rules and was using a “residential premise” as an office.

“No, [the hostel] did not belong to those universities [Namal or NUML] at all,” Baig said, over the phone, “In this case, a house has been converted into a hostel, which was illegal.”

Abeera Dilawar, the director of public relations at CDA, also confirmed to Geo Fact Check that the house was a private hostel and its owner had been warned a few times to shut it down.

Geo Fact Check then reached out to Bilal Khan, the public relations officer at NUML University in Islamabad, who stated that the hostel in Sector-I had no link to their University.

“All our hostels are located inside the university,” Khan told Geo Fact Check over the phone.

Geo Fact Check further spoke to Sheraz Khan, the assistant manager human resources of Namal University in Mianwali. Khan said that Namal University, which was established by Imran Khan, has no campus in Islamabad.

Geo Fact Check also contacted Sarmad Iftikhar, the owner of the private hostel that was sealed. He confirmed that his hostel had no association with NUML or Namal University.

However, Iftikhar added that of the 100 students who were residing at his hostel, 70 were enrolled at NUML University’s campus in Islamabad.

With additional reporting by Nadia Khalid.

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