Attempt to revive student unions

The Senate Committee of the Whole (all sitting members of the Senate) met on Wednesday and discussed the revival of student unions in educational institutions, especially in colleges and universities across the country. The interior secretary briefed the committee about the background of student unions, their positive and negative perspectives, and Pakistani laws regarding them. Meanwhile, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto has directed the Sindh and Azad Kashmir governments to lift the decades-old ban on student unions in educational institutions to allow students to participate in healthy democratic activities for the their future role in national politics. The ban on student unions was imposed by General Zia-ul- Haq in 1984; however, the orders were rescinded by the Benazir Bhutto’s government in 1988. Three years later, the student unions were challenged in the apex court on grounds that they were contributing to “on-campus violence”. In 1993, the court imposed ban on the student unions.
If provincial governments or federal government goes ahead in allowing formation of student unions, it would amount to contempt of the court. However, the government informed the Senate Committee of the Whole that there was no problem in revival of the student unions but this must be tagged with essential checks and balances, which was supported by the senators. The committee met at the Senate Hall with Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani in the chair for proposals and input from the Minister of State for Federal Education Muhammad Balighur Rehman, Secretary Ministry of Interior Shahid Khan and the Sindh Chief Secretary Muhammad Siddique Memon. There was a consensus among the participants on the need for revival of student unions, but stressed that a code of conduct must be devised and mechanism put in place to ensure its compliance.
The forum was told that as per the Supreme Court order, even today each student has to submit an affidavit not to take part in any union activities. However, there was a difference of opinion on whether or not, the unions, once allowed to function, should have affiliation with mainstream political parties. One would not understand as to why political parties are adamant in restoration of students unions, knowing the past when rocket launchers were recovered from students and they became so powerful that vice-chancellors hesitated to take action against wrong-doers. Student unions in the past also indulged in sectarian, racial or other prejudices. There is another point of view that students should be allowed to form academic and cultural committees or bodies, and their activities should be education-oriented and the code must ensure that would create no impediment in educational activities, being the prime concern.
It has to be mentioned that with the emergence of Afghan war, a new element of militancy rose to its peaks with open display of arms within campuses. Subsequently the student unions were banned by Martial law notification in 1984. On 1 July, 1992, every student and his parents/guardian were bound by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to give an undertaking at the time of admissions not to “indulge in politics”. Every college and university student in Pakistan has to provide this affidavit till date. The Supreme Court further banned all student unions on 10 March 1993. Student organizations have been resisting this ban. Nevertheless there is vast support for the ban especially from the educationists’ side who think that student union activities had contributed to violence and militancy and disruption of studies in campuses.
Political parties had used student unions for flexing muscles, show of street power and intense uprisings through student politics until the 1990s, when the students unions were eventually banned. The rise of campus violence and subsequent ban on student unions had broken the link between student organizations and their outside the campus mentors. Therefore, the student politics faces a huge challenge of justifying its existence not only due to its violent past and the changing political and ideological contexts, but because of visible shifts in academic environment and growth of education sector, societal changes, access to new technologies having advances in political communication and incentives for alternative sources of resource building and activism within the campuses. In the current times, there have been socio-political changes and shifts in higher education sector in the recent history of the country that would compel the student politics for reorientation in its historical course.
In 2009, in an unprecedented move Vice Chancellors of all public and private universities of Pakistan in a national tele-conference regarded it inappropriate to lift the ban at the critical situation of the country. They rather supported the growth of societies and associations within campuses. They further accused the unions of being a source of violence and disruption in studies. Some veteran student activists also now approve delinking student unions from political parties and violence of the past. The argument that future leadership would emerge from the student unions is absurd, as during existence of students unions for five decades, only a dozen leaders emerged to become political leaders. In fact, political parties have to organize in a manner that they create cadres of first, second and the third tier of leadership. They should inculcate the spirit of service and tolerance to establish the real democracy in the country.