Student unions.

RECENTLY, a young woman led a rally in Hyderabad demanding the restoration of student unions. It is not a new concept, yet a generation of youth has grown up without having witnessed a student welfare campaign steered by student unions.

The power of student unions can be gauged from the fact that French president Charles de Gaulle called for new elections due to massive student and teacher protests. In the US, protests by students against the Vietnam War played a significant role in swaying public opinion.

In Pakistan, unfortunately, student unions have come to be associated with political violence on campuses. This was not so in the past when universities across the country used to have very active and vibrant student unions. The Muslim Students Federation, a student wing of the All India Muslim League, played an important role in the Pakistan Movement. Even after Partition, the country witnessed significant events with regard to the demonstration of students' politics of resistance. Had the students not protested valiantly against the Ayub Khan regime, it would have been unlikely that he would have resigned.

Acknowledging their power in being able to affect national politics, Gen Ziaul Haq banned student unions. However, Jamaat-i-Islami's student wing, the Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba, continued to flourish and was later linked to violence and lethal weapons on university campuses across Pakistan. While it is widely believed that the presence of student unions brings violence on campuses, the very fact that violence keeps on erupting in universities, despite a ban on student unions, negates that notion.

Banning student unions has not helped curb campus violence.

Our political parties often thrive on hereditary and feudal politics. The ban on unions during prolonged periods of dictatorships has made students apolitical. It has also left representatives of the middle and the lower-middle class without an avenue to learn the nuances of politics and become a part of the political process. This vacuum is reflected in the current political setup, whereas history is replete with examples of students from middle class families entering national politics through student unions: Jahangir Badar, Liaquat Baloch and Ahsan Iqbal are a few such names.

There is an underlying fear with regard to the restoration of student unions - instead of engaging in issue-based politics, unions may toe the line of some political party. There have been cases in the recent...