It has been over three decades since General Zia put a ban on student unions. Even today -- long after Pakistan’s successful maiden voyage towards democracy amidst constant fear of a military takeover, students sign an undertaking before joining academic institutions that keeps them on the periphery. Political activities are still not allowed on campus.

Yet, students are expected to play a role in the country’s politics by voting for MNAs, MPAs and Prime Ministers as soon as they step into the practical world. Political parties, too, cognizant of Pakistan’s changing demographic realities are engaged in an attempt to connect with and capture the imagination of Pakistan’s youth -- a tier that makes up for two-thirds of its total population.

The movement for change spearheaded by PTI close to May 2013 elections also successfully engaged the hitherto dispirited youth by focusing the attention on the deplorable state of the country’s institutions and encouraging young people to exercise the vote and become participants in the political process.

However, despite a recognition of the ‘youth bulge’, political parties have largely fallen short of providing space to the youth in terms of political representation as the manifestos of most parties only deal with providing employment opportunities and vocational training. Only PTI and PML-N focus on reserving seats for the youth in their programmes and even these leave a lot more to be desired and eventually focus on provision of jobs and vocational training.

"The biggest problem for the youth is to express politics as a legitimate domain for students to be active in. Education has always been construed as something that is pure and divorced from conflict unlike politics -- it’s something about merit and eloquent discussion," opines Ammar Ali Jan, who teaches at Government College University, Lahore.

He observes that "historically education, both in the Western and the colonial world, has been tied to a political project which is aimed at creating a colonial elite and ever since the creation of Pakistan, it has been tied to creating a Pakistani imagination by the state."

Jan believes that since unions have been banned, "today education has been tied to a new political project -- partly related to Islam and partly to this new idea that there is no need for discussion or debate but just being professionals who just do well in life." He attributes this to globalisation which also brought many corporations to Pakistan.

"Our institutions are highly politicised in the name of ending politics, all decisions related to curriculum are made by political considerations. All appointees, from VCs to professors, are made on the basis of who is in power -- all are attached to the political elite. This practice has, in fact, intensified since the unions have gone away because at least in the unions, you could debate," he laments.

"Despite the fact that unions could be influenced, there was room for dissent. The state hasn’t ended politics, it has ended counter-politics. So you have allowed only one kind of politics to dominate and this has totally destroyed education," he argues.

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The fact of the matter is that students are not detached from the political situation of the country and the ban does little to keep them out of it. Not only is it a contradiction in terms when on the one hand they are told to be participants in the political process and, on the other, they are barred from political activities on campus. But it robs them of a voice.

In spite of the ban, students continue to have their ideological leanings and opinions; professors who teach them and whom the students look up to have their own. What’s more the student wings of political parties are very active in educational institutions all across Pakistan. So, as far as keeping things sanitised and purely academic within the boundaries of academic institutions is concerned (which in itself is too ambitious an aspiration), the ban has not had the desired effect.

"If you have the slightest bit of inclination towards politics and questioning things, you almost always are politicised in such an environment. Asking questions is the beginning of becoming politicised," says Aasim Sajjad Akhtar who teaches at the Quaid-i-Azam University.

"My journey has been interesting. I have been exposed to the romantic aspect of revolution from Grade-9. Back in school, our teacher used to show us documentaries of Fidel Castro and the like," says Ramis Sohail, a student at LUMS. "I didn’t ponder over the work for a few years until I joined university. Then the janitor issue (firing of janitorial staff) at LUMS happened and then Latif Johar went on a hunger strike for 38 days. I guess that was the tipping point," he adds.

Sohail is a member of Democratic Students Alliance (DSA), a leftist student organisation which aims to mobilise all left-leaning students and individuals committed to the progressive transformation of Pakistan. Despite the flimsy boundaries that separate academic and political lives, those who still want to participate in the country’s political future are finding ways.

"Ideological organisations with vision may go through ups and downs but they do not die. IJT has been in existence for a long time and our mission is to promote Islamic values. Campus politics is important because it teaches students about their rights and how they can get them.," says Rana Hassan Raza, President IJI, Hailey College Punjab University.

Promoting student politics, therefore, will go a long way in strengthening the democratic culture within Pakistan. At a time when there are unions for people from all walks of life -- from labourers to traders, the fact that there isn’t one to represent students and their concerns is appalling.

The fear and apprehensions related to all hell breaking lose if politics on campus is allowed is representative of the state’s inability to control law and order and a greater inability to accommodate differing points of view. The Kanhaiya Kumar case from across the border strikes a chord because we can agree that both countries share the same dilemmas.