• Argue PMDC and medical colleges lack legal authority to expel them
• FO denies ‘blanket ban’, says those with valid visas, enrolled in degree programmes can stay
LAHORE: Thirteen Afghan medical students on Thursday filed multiple petitions before the Lahore High Court (LHC), challenging directives from the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) ordering them to return to Afghanistan.
The petitioners, comprising seven women and six men, filed the petitions through Advocate Asad Jamal. They were enrolled at different institutions in Lahore, including King Edward Medical University, Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Medical and Dental College and the Services Institute of Medical Sciences.
The petitioners said they had been removed from their colleges on the PMDC’s instructions, arguing that the council and the medical colleges lacked the legal authority to expel them.
They argued that the PMDC’s powers, as the top regulatory body under the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Act 2023, must be exercised within the bounds of the Constitution and Pakistan’s international legal obligations.
They said neither the 2023 Act nor constitutional or international principles permitted the council to act arbitrarily, particularly against students who had already spent years pursuing their medical education in Lahore and other areas of Punjab.
Many of the petitioners hold scholarships under the Higher Education Commission (HEC)-sponsored Allama Iqbal Scholarship Programme. In July 2025, the HEC held a reception to welcome around 350 Afghan students arriving in Pakistan to pursue their studies.
Nilofar Nikzad, one of the petitioners, said she had completed two years of medical studies in Afghanistan before being forced to abandon her education because of Taliban restrictions on women’s access to education.
The petitioners said the sudden and disruptive process had led to their eviction from hostels by their respective colleges, leaving them without accommodation while their academic futures hung in the balance. They said the PMDC directives had caused significant distress among Afghan medical students studying across Pakistan, prompting them to seek recourse from the courts as a last resort.
The petitioners asked the LHC to declare two PMDC directives, issued on July 31 and Sept 1, “illegal and unconstitutional”, without lawful authority and void from inception.
“The impugned orders are discriminatory against women and all other Afghan students present in Pakistan,” one of the petitions claimed.
The hearing has been fixed for Friday (today) before Justice Khalid Ishaq.
‘Enrolled students to complete studies’
The court challenge came as Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan on Thursday denied that the government had ordered all Afghan medical students to leave Pakistan, but stopped short of confirming whether those affected by the PMDC directive had valid visas and registrations.
“There is no such decision by the government to return all the Afghan students,” Mr Khan told reporters at a weekly briefing in Islamabad. He said Afghan students could remain in Pakistan if they were enrolled in a valid degree programme and held valid visas.
“Of course, if a student is enrolled in Pakistan in a valid degree programme and holds a valid visa, he or she can stay here and complete their education,” Mr Khan said.
However, when asked specifically about the status of students affected by the PMDC directive, the spokesman referred the matter to the medical regulator.
“Going back to your question, the PMDC has issued the letter. I would refer you to the PMDC,” he said, advising reporters to ask the council whether the students held valid registrations and visas.
“There is no blanket ban on Afghan students,” Mr Khan said, reiterating that those holding valid visas and registered in recognised degree programmes would be allowed to complete their education in Pakistan. On Sept 1, the PMDC issued a notification directing Afghan medical students enrolled in Pakistani colleges “to return to Afghanistan”.
The notification also barred medical and dental colleges from granting admissions or placement to Afghan students for the current academic session.
With input from Baqir Sajjad Syed
Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2026
