THOUSANDS of students will be taking to the streets today to demand their rights. The Student Solidarity March will see rallies being held in 50 cities across the country, under the aegis of the Student Action Committee, a national-level representative of smaller students’ organisations. They will demand the restoration of student unions, the reversal of budgets cuts, the formation of sexual harassment committees and an end to ethnic, gender and religious discrimination on university campuses. The march is intended to be peaceful. However, the HRCP has expressed alarm over the government’s attitude towards the marchers, which shows that participants might have to face hostility from the authorities. The HRCP has voiced its concern over reports of harassment and rustication of students. The human rights body has condemned the authorities’ attempt to prevent youth from participating in a peaceful assembly, thus violating their constitutional rights, and has also drawn attention to a notification issued by the governor of Balochistan banning any ‘political’ activity on the University of Balochistan campus, while directing the security personnel deployed there to take ‘necessary’ action if required. Another example of institutional high-handedness ahead of the march came from Punjab University where an MPhil student was declared persona non grata on allegations of participating in violent activities on campus. The student, Husnain Jamil Faridi, had organised on March 20 a protest inside the campus against the shortage of buses. Four more students were also rusticated for reportedly taking part in the protest.

In fact, many incidents in the recent past, such as the murder of Mashal Khan in Mardan and the blackmailing of students by the administration of the University of Balochistan, have only proved that the absence of effective student representation has paved the way for ill-intentioned elements to prevail in university campuses, disrupting academic and administrative affairs and ruining the futures of thousands. The fact that students have to take to the streets to raise a voice for their rights and to air their grievances is in itself a testament to this fact. It is to be hoped that this march will lead to serious debate on the pivotal issue of students’ representation and the revival of unions, that is, like it or not, the only way to rid campuses of unhealthy outside influence, while also making them more efficient in resolving students’ problems.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2019