Academics gathered at a moot in Lahore have called for disbanding all political, sectarian, racial or ethnic organisations on campus whilst providing an alternative platform for students to express their opinions. The reason for their demand is the recent series of clashes between two student groups at the Punjab University. Confrontations featuring PU’s student groups, particularly the IJT, frequently make the news. This has remained a great failing of the PU administration and the state. It is thoroughly disheartening that the once liberal, progressive and thriving atmosphere of the university has been surrendered to the hooligans of IJT. The proposal forwarded by educationists is not without reason as the atmosphere of growing intolerance at universities is a cause for concern for many Pakistanis. But making a call for the state to crack down on all types of student groups is not a solution to treat the malaise that has gained deep roots in society, thanks to the policies of vested interests in the past. Pakistani politicians, dictators, leaders of sectarian outfits and religious extremists all hijacked this platform for their narrow and limited objectives. Due to the resulting violence, student unions were banned through a Supreme Court verdict in 1993 but the IJT continues to operate in various institutions as the de facto moral police. There is no doubt that student unions can form the bedrock of an informed citizenry in a democracy. They can play the role of nurseries for politically aware youth. Before the late 1970s, student unions in Pakistan have been the flag-bearers of progressive trends. They held debates between students from opposing parties, which helped to create tolerance for differing viewpoints. So instead of continuing with the policy of imposing a ban on student unions, the government should work for the establishment of a system to monitor these platforms as they can play a positive role in the elimination of intolerance in society. At the same time, all student unions should be accountable to the administration as well as to internal scrutiny. In this regard, the state can take educationists as well as students into confidence for the formation of a code of conduct to purge universities of all negativity emanating from the influence of certain fundamentalist and intolerant elements in society. *