PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Wednesday demanded restoration of student unions countrywide after Sindh passed a bill for their restoration. “A new leadership will emerge through this nursery […] as student unions played an integral part in ending dictatorship. The role of students in the struggle against (dictator) Zia-ul-Haq was historic,” he said while addressing an event in Karachi. Bilawal said hatred and extremism were on the rise in society and this was due to the absence of students unions, which were banned during former dictator Gen Zia’s tenure. He said fees were increasing in the educational institutions across the province and harassment of students was also on the rise. Bilawal said with the revival of these unions, whenever harassment incidents would be investigated, students would have their say in the matter and when an educational institution would consider a fee hike, they would have to ask the students first, says a news report. The provincial assembly unanimously passed the Sindh Students Union Bill, 2019, last week, which gave representation to students in the educational institutions’ syndicate, senate, and anti-harassment committees. The bill mentioned that no student would be allowed to use or keep weapons on campus, adding that educational institutions would decide the rules and regulations related to the unions two months after the bill was passed. Criticizing the government, Bilawal said an illegitimate, inept, and incompetent regime had been forced on the people causing poverty, unemployment, and inflation. “An attack has been launched on Pakistan’s economic prosperity,” the PPP chairman said. Bilawal said the PPP would march to Islamabad from Karachi on February 27 in its bid to oust the government.
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