If we peep into the past, we see that the then-military dictator of Pakistan General Zia-ul-Haq banned the student unions in 1984, because his atrocious regime faced opposition, resistance, and counteraction at the hands of leaning political parties. But it is not unintelligible or complicated to say that these unions still do exist in many institutes and to beat this menace, there should be a silver bullet to gobble the monster of student unions and guns on campuses and proscribe the young men and women of all Pakistani universities from partaking unions and strikes.
Pakistan has the largest population of youth ever recorded in its history. Youth is the most valuable asset but vulnerable to natural and factitious risks. Our young generation is going through different challenges and from the beginning, it has faced regional, ethnic and religious differences, and this divide has led the students towards exclusivism. Our universities have faced episodes of bloodshed from the inception of Pakistan. It is not a new phenomenon. Intolerance among students has a history of decades that needs to be curbed now. It will not be wrong to say that the political parties also arm the students and involve them in savage physical violence.
Educational institutes are regarded as sanctuaries where young people delve into new ideas and explore them.
Consequently, incidents of extremism and violence evoke questions like, is there any safe haven? Most recently we came across an incident of a brawl in International Islamic University, Islamabad, where a young man Syed Tufail was killed and many were injured. According to the initial reports, two groups (Student Unions) came into conflict and caused tension in the university. The use of ammunition resulted in a gut-wrenching incident. Likewise in 2017, just because of a petty issue a row was sparked between Sindh and Baloch councils and the students vowed to shut the university in one of the top-notch universities of Pakistan—QAU. Fear lingers on in students and parents regarding the conflicts at university dorms; but what next…? Are we doing something to rein in this nuisance or will these unlawful premeditated killings be forgotten?
The very main questions that pop up in one’s mind is that the “offensive weapons” are prohibited in the premises of all universities, then how students are able to get this inside the varsity and where these firearms are stored? Another relevant issue is security on campuses. Such kind of incidents, mentioned above and others of this type is a question mark on the security of educational institutions.
On 24th October 2018, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan and the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) signed an MoU to prevent ‘on-campus’ extremism and violence. Many incidents of extremism in different universities of Pakistan forced the concerned authorities to take this theoretical step. But still, a lot more is to be done to stop extrajudicial killing by groups, informal public executions, deadly clashes between student unions and ethnonational councils.
Our ‘future leaders’ can play a vital role in aiding peacebuilding, as this nation is fighting against extremism and conflicts from decades. Their role in peacebuilding can be cinched through creativeness and innovativeness in education, culture, sports and tourism. There are many ways of peacebuilding—through the strengthening of community cohesion and reconciliation.
Importantly, different kinds of societies can be formed under the university’s supervision which can help in the ongoing process of building the nation. A course related to effective rule of law needs to be made compulsory in all universities so that every educated person of Pakistan can make it clear in his mind that he is not above law and could pass it on to other people.
Lastly, there is a dire need to pass legislation on campus safety by the government of Pakistan to prevent itself from future hazards.
The writer currently works at the Islamic Research Institute, International University, Islamabad