LAHORE, Nov 8: Student protests continued apace on Thursday amid indications that protestors are becoming better organised and developing a coherent command structure, as well as launching for the first time a cross-campus newsletter, The Emergency Times.

Thousands of photocopies of the nine-page polemic, which details goings-on across universities in the whole of Pakistan and issues an urgent call to action, were circulated across the city’s universities.

Though a disclaimer makes it clear that the newsletter is not affiliated with any political party or social group, it is perhaps telling that it originates from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), which has till date taken a leading role in the burgeoning student movement.

At the LUMS campus, police in heavy riot gear and armed with tear gas maintained a heavy presence outside the main gate for the third day running, what the students said, to intimidate both students on the inside and reporters on the outside.

Student leader Imran (whose name has been changed to protect his identity) told Dawn that a rally began early afternoon when Prof Aasim Sajjad, recently released from jail, roused the students with an inspiring speech, followed by speeches from other students.

Around 300 students proceeded to march peacefully through the campus and were met by Vice Chancellor Dr Syed Zahoor Hassan who informed them to remain in the sports complex or near the cafeteria, not to approach the main gate, and remain peaceful.

Imran said: “We are developing this movement on-campus for the time being and organising ourselves. When the time is right we will take to the streets.”

His comments were re-iterated by another student leader, Hashim (a pseudonym) across town at Beaconhouse National University (BNU), where students held a peaceful protest that brought together around 50 students in the main courtyard area of the Zafar Ali road campus.

Hashim said: “We don’t fear arrest but it’s a matter of timing and it’s about the cause: we must do our utmost for the cause and getting arrested too early won’t help that way.”

Reporters were barred from entering the premises after police issued strict instructions to guards there not to allow in outsiders. Dawn was able, however, to gain access to the area and witness speeches by students and faculty, including recently released professor and activist Salima Hashmi.

In an emotionally charged speech, Prof Hashmi detailed the events that led to her incarceration on Sunday night before concluding her speech by urging students to protect their basic freedoms as enshrined in the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Prof Hashmi later told Dawn: “What makes this exciting is the fact that this is a very de-politicised generation we’re talking about.

“The sixties and seventies were different, but since the break-up of the student union and labour union movements under Zia, that really died off. These are complicated issues we’re dealing with -– the assault on the third pillar of state, and so now it’s the intelligentsia where the movement is taking root,” she continued.

Describing the mood on campus as “tense but exhilarating”, Hashim said: “This is a protracted fight and we’re in for the long-run. The eventual aim is to get politics back to the students, and for that to happen we need to break the class-barrier and bridge the gap between public and private universities, making alliances across all sorts of groups.”

The students’ next move, he says, will be to co-ordinate simultaneous on-campus protests. The Emergency Times also announced Iqbal Day rallies will be held on Friday (today), quoting as reference Allama Iqbal’s statement: “Allah never changes the condition of a nation until they, first change what is in themselves.”