By Faisal Mashroof
Gagging the students risks gagging the future. Students have traditionally been one of the most vocal constituencies in favor of social progress, educational reform and democratic accountability. Across Europe and South Asia, student movements have battled injustice, demanded transparency and produced leaders who later shaped their nations. But in Pakistan the student voice has been slowly extinguished over the last four decades.
The ban on student unions in 1984 marked a turning point in Pakistan’s educational and political scene. The ban was passed to reduce campus violence and political conflict but also eliminated an important venue for students to organize, debate ideas and collectively defend their academic rights. Generations of Pakistani students have since grown up with little opportunity to participate in democratic processes in their educational institutions. The contradiction is all the more striking in universities that teach political science, constitutional law and public administration. Students study democracy, governance and political systems for years, yet are told that politics has no place in student life.
If universities are to produce responsible citizens, then encouraging informed civic participation should be considered part of education, not a threat to it.
Weak student representation is paying its price all over the education sector in Pakistan. Students face many problems like irregularity of examinations, delay in results, lack of facilities in the campus, increasing cost of education and the less employment opportunities after graduation. Yet, students often lack a real, independent platform to voice their concerns collectively and engage with university administrations or policymakers.
The most prominent example is the leak of the 2019 MDCAT paper. Serious allegations of a lack of transparency in the exams hit thousands of would-be medical students. But there weren’t any student unions backing their movement that could have organized and held them accountable. The episode revealed not only defects in the management of the examination but also the lack of a well-structured student representation capable of sustaining reform efforts.
Student activism has played an important role in shaping public policy for years. Recently, Indian students protested about leaking exam papers like in the case of NEET. Student activism also took place in Bangladesh and Nepal and influenced regional politics and policy. However, not all protests lead to their goals being achieved, and it would be unreasonable to consider them all victories. Yet examples from South Asia demonstrate how student protests influence modern politics and serve as a vital part of democracy.
But Pakistan continues to treat student political activism with caution. This leads to a generation that is often alienated from the policy-making process and from public institutions. Universities should not only produce degree holders. They should promote the formation of responsible citizens, honest leadership, and the art of debate. It is not in the textbook;it must be lived, discussed, negotiated, and practiced.
This does not mean that campuses should be politicized poles of antagonism, but a distinction must be made between political violence and democratic student representation. Student governments should focus their efforts on teaching, management, studies, research, and university administration, acting as a force field for the institutions.
“Pakistan’s future cannot be made by telling students to shut up. It will be built by encouraging them to think critically, to question responsibly, to participate peacefully and to contribute positively to national development. “An assured nation does not fear the voices of its students. It hears them.
