
THE black day observed by universities in Pakistan to protest against the escalating violence on campus underscores the need to urgently address a grave problem.
With many institutions of higher learning across the country in the grip of violence, the authorities have from time to time interrupted classes temporarily and forced students to vacate their hostels. Bahawalpur’s Islamia University, Peshawar University, Punjab University, Government College University Faisalabad, the National University of Modern Languages in Islamabad and Kohat University have been affected in the last few weeks. A student was killed and teachers attacked. If this growing trend is not halted it could disrupt higher education in the country which is already in a crisis. Hence one can understand the concern expressed by the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Associations. But one hopes that the group’s protest on Monday will not prove to be the forerunner of a series of strikes and rallies that will disrupt classes and disturb the academic session. The academics have registered their disapproval of the indiscipline and radical propensities in evidence on campus. They should not become an added factor in the turmoil that marks university life in Pakistan.
The main reason why universities have become centres of violence is the political polarisation that divides students and teachers in these institutions. While students unions have yet to be restored — the prime minister had promised to do so — political parties continue to play a negative role on campuses. In this scenario, there is no healthy and democratic interaction among students of different political and ideological opinions as there was between unions in the days of yore. The teachers are also to be partially blamed. Many of them are hardly non-partisan as they should be and actually use their position to support one group or the other.
