Violence is becoming the order of the day on campuses in Punjab. On Friday, 18 people were injured, including 10 security guards of the Punjab University, when two student groups indulged in bloody clashes outside the Sociology Department at the Punjab University (PU). The warning parties are stated to be Islami Jamiat Tulaba, known as Jamiat, and Pakhtun Students Council whose formal name is the Pashtun Educational Development Movement. The motive behind the clash has yet to be ascertained but it is a fact that student groups try to exert their muscle power to establish their dominance one way or another. In the ensuing action, the PU administration has rusticated 14 students for the period yet to be established while the police have rounded up 20 students in a crackdown on hostels. Earlier, the Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan became a hotbed of violent clashes between the Peoples Students Federation and the Pakhtun Students Council. The PU administration sees it as a plot to impact its ranking.
What will be the future of the suspended students? What will become of the parents who spend hard-earned money on the higher education of their children? Detractors will use these instances of violence against the demand for revival of student unions, which has picked up pace in recent months. In fact, the fresh incidents of violence make a strong case for revival of student unions. The ban on student politics on campuses has shrunk space for civic voices and students’ meaningful activities on campuses. The absence of such unions directs students’ energies toward violence and muscle power shows. Under these circumstances, several rights group rose for union rights last November and staged massive shows across the country in support of their single-agenda demand: the revival of student unions.
The prime minister has already been urged to allow the restoration of student politics subject to comprehensive and enforceable code of conduct. After the last Student Solidarity March, some government quarters had indicated the possible revival of unions. The prime minister tweeted that the restoration of unions will take place after a well-thought out strategy. Since then, we have not heard again on this issue from the government. Meanwhile, the Sindh government, which had announced student union elections, also appears to have forgotten the promise. *