Pakistani Students Are Facing Trouble Due To Campus Activism & Ongoing Politics of Students Unions in Colleges & Universities

In Pakistan, student unions were banned in 1980 but with the current situation, the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan is facing huge opposition from campus activism. However, the government is trying to pave the roads in order to control this dilemma in the country for all college and university students.

Growing Rate of Sexual Harassment

Students are protesting about lifting the ban on student unions and demanding that student unions should be restored in the colleges and universities. Last year in November all over the Pakistani students protested flared across 25 cities regarding tackling the hazard of an increase in sexual harassment in educational institutes.

Recruitment of Militant Groups

Due to this growing hazard of sexual harassment students are demanding that student unions should not be banned in the country. The recruitment of militant groups for the culture of intolerance in the educational institutes has overshadowed the real need to have such student unions that can help out with the growing issues in the colleges and universities.

Impact Of Ban on Student Union

According to Arshad Yosafzai who is a Karachi based journalist the violence, harassment case and criminal activities were the results of student unions ban.  When Zia ul Haq dictated the whole country the young anti-regime students of student union parties were brutally treated as their leaders were arrested by the government. As a result, the country was divided into two groups, one group sided with anti-regime student’s politics and other groups united with Zia ul Haq.

According to a report published by Jinnah Institute, an Islamabad-based think tank the educational institutes led to violence due to hatred of opposed groups and many students lost their lives during these clashes which still exists at some rate until this day.

Prime Minister Imran Khan Response

Prime Minister Khan has taken this whole agenda into consideration and as a response instead of lifting the ban on campus politics from all the four provinces, Khan and his government showed the inclination towards the restoration of student unions in two provinces. Many religious institutes in Pakistan are accused because at some level they are promoting radical ideologies. They are also accused of having their connections with terrorist groups and other law enforcement agencies. In recent years the government has arrested students who were involved in criminal and terrorist activates.

Although Prime Minister Imran Khan's government is trying to tackle the issue on by easing restrictions on campus politics but many previous student union leaders and political analysts believe that Pakistan still has a long way to go before realizing the dream of having a fearless and clean student politics scene that contributes to the country's turbulent democracy.