Revival of unions

In a landmark decision, the Sindh Assembly recently passed a bill to restore student unions. According to the bill, a student union will be formed in every private and government education institution in the province. It further states that enrolled students will be able to vote for student unions or participate in their activities. Students would be able to form a union with seven to 11 student members through elections every year.

Union members will also have representation in an institute’s syndicate, senate and anti-harassment committee. This much-needed step will go a long way in bringing politics back to political parties and politicians. Some stakeholders – parents, academics, law-enforcement agencies and others – however have raised a few valid questions over the recently passed bill. Decision-makers should have a look at them for the sake of the success of the much-awaited initiative.

It is said that education institutions are a microcosm of society. Parents are concerned that our society usually reacts violently to any kind of dissent, is devoid of tolerance, lacks a culture of informed dialogue and is flooded with firearms. What measures will be taken by education institutions and other relevant bodies to ensure that no physical and emotional harm comes to their children? This is a valid concern and needs to be taken seriously by the relevant authorities. If not, the initiative would prove counterproductive and parents might prefer to seek alternatives for their children’s education.

Student unions were banned by the late General Zia in 1984, and since then, educational institutions have lost the capacity to conduct elections. The support staff and faculty members are not trained to manage the country’s future leaders. They do not have the will to share power with them, and even if they develop that, they cannot efficiently negotiate with a union leader. Politics is the art of possibilities, and before the implementation of the bill, relevant stakeholders need to be trained.

Over the last 40 years, a lot of changes have taken place. Young people’s aspirations, thinking patterns and social and political expression have changed. The last time the country’s educational institutions observed students' union elections was the cold-war era in which ideological battlelines were clearly drawn. The warring sides of the Left and Right were at daggers drawn but followed a certain code of conduct, which was known by all stakeholders.

Unlike their predecessors of the 1980s, today’s young people, like other segments of society, are conspicuous consumers of market-driven images and are more brand-loyal with aspirations which are more ‘global’ and not ‘local’. When the state is less respectful of their aspirations, they often turn to drugs, jihadi outfits, and emigration. It’s mandatory for all student groups to understand the latest trends that young people follow so that they can draft a better manifesto. Any preconceived blueprint with an aim of social engineering for wider political gains is not going to work.

When student unions were banned, there were few private universities and colleges, and public universities used to be male-dominated spaces. A big change has now taken place with women getting enrolled in higher education institutions in large numbers. It is yet to see how men and women will work together to strengthen unions. How the feminisation of student politics at a large scale will be handled by the patriarchs and vanguards of the old order in public universities is yet to be seen. The sooner they can accommodate this change, the easier would be the transition – otherwise unnecessary tensions will prevail in academic aura.

It will also be interesting to see the response of private universities – which are often called ‘profit centres’ – when student unions will confront them with their demands against fees hike. There is an Urdu proverb that goes: ‘if the horse befriends the grass, what would it eat?’ This may create a serious existential crisis for the proverbial horse. Are private education institutions capable of handling such an issue in a transparent manner? Only time will tell.

Many political scientists believe that for quite some time, Sindh has continued to assert its provincial power – though subtly – in an evolutionary style (in contrast with the revolutionary style of yesteryears). They are of the opinion that this latest move of the Sindh government needs to be followed by other provincial governments.

Their proposition stands on the premise that the role of education institutions as breeding and nurturing grounds of future political leadership is universally recognised. If that’s true, imagine a future scenario in which Sindh is producing ideologically sound, charismatic, firebrand orators with Edhian spirit while other provinces not coming at par with those well-rounded politicians. The political community is concerned about the impact of the probable scenario on the interprovincial relationship and political equation of Sindh with the federal government.

There could be many more questions – for example, about the accountability of student unions. Considerable thought needs to be given to what sort of students’ politics is under consideration and how campuses should not be held hostage by national political parties. A commitment needs to be demonstrated by the major political parties not to make students their guided missiles for their respective political ambitions.

These questions need to be answered before the implementation of the bill. Otherwise, the step will jeopardise the entire venture of implementing democracy at the basic level.

The writer is a lecturer at the Department of Architecture and Planning, NED, Karachi. He can be reached at: mansooraza@gmail.com