Student anger.

Byline: Umair Javed

OVER the past several months, students from both private and public-sector universities have held protests and demonstrations over a wide variety of issues.

Among the issues highlighted, notable ones include on-campus intimidation and violence by entrenched groups, such as the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) in Punjab University, the lack of residential facilities on (Quaid-i-Azam University) and off campus (Sector E-11 in Islamabad), the absence of a secure campus environment, which in one case led to the tragic death of a student (Bahria University), and, most recently, the brazen violation of privacy rights and student dignity through the use of secret CCTV footage by administrators at the University of Balochistan.

In each instance, the protests and outbreak of anger was triggered by a particular incident, which acted as the proverbial straw. But as existing theory on protest and contentious mobilisation tells us, triggers often align with a range of structural and institutional factors that help convert latent disaffection into active anger. In other words, grievances can accumulate over a long period of time, and protest once possible, can act as a powerful contagion to other sites.

While remaining cautious of reading too much into what is still a relatively recent occurrence, this fresh wave of resentment needs to be understood particularly because student politics beyond ethnic or partisan frames have remained relatively dormant these past two decades. Barring some notable attempts by progressive student organisations (NSF and PSC), the wider student body in higher education has remained fragmented and isolated across public-private and regional lines, generally rendering it unable to act collectively for its broader occupational needs.

Grievances can accumulate over a long period of time.

Several factors from the recent past may yet change this scenario. As documented lucidly two weeks ago by Dr Ammar Jan in a piece titled 'Who's afraid of the youth?', the fiscal crunch induced by macroeconomic stabilisation has introduced an unprecedented level of precarity among students, especially those in large public-sector universities. The most direct form this has taken is a reduction in scholarship amounts and reduced spending on campus infrastructure. These reported cutbacks in government spending on higher education have been to the tune of nearly 30 per cent, and given the scale of the numbers involved, it has made it...