There have been news reports that a group of students started a hunger strike on the first of March in Karachi, demanding the restoration of student unions. Some time ago, students were on the streets demanding reversal of the decision to hold on-campus examinations, as decided by some university managements.

They had many complaints: about the quality of online education, university managements asking for full fees and alleged non-responsiveness of university administrations.

The protests were led by a student organisation that claimed to be working for education and social justice. An advice to students given by certain quarters was to focus only on their studies and stay indoors. It is believed that when students protest they are ‘politicised’. The core reason behind this assumption was the turbulent phase in our recent history when campuses were held hostage by certain factions claiming to be student organisations.

Should students be allowed to participate in social movements and mobilise for political ends? Looking back at the history may provide some context for our arguments.

During Gen Zia’s times, all potential resistance movements were crushed with a heavy hand. Student bodies were viewed as a potential threat to the regime. Thus, an infinite ban was imposed on elected student unions in all institutions of higher learning. This gave rise to mounting frustration amongst students. Strong protests were held during the 1980s and violent clashes erupted between students and law enforcement agencies on several occasions.

Deliberate attempts by Zia regime to cause polarisation among students also caused bloody riots in several institutions during the 1980s. Certain right-wing outfits supported by the powers that be gained power and intimidated those who questioned their position. No government after Zia came up with a clear policy on the issue of student unions or their legally validated role in campus affairs.

Many political commentators say that now is not the best time for students to learn and practice political work. The country is suffering from an ideological vacuum. With the exception of ideas of the ‘right’ and ‘ultra-right’, no ideological alternative worth the name is available to the young people to subscribe to.

There is very little mobilisation to enable young people evolve fresh ideological paradigms, especially around the classical Left. Previously crafted ideological platforms have become incongruent to the emerging circumstances. Nascent forces of neo-liberal doctorines, overwhelming tendencies of consumerism, forceful ingress of globalisation, in-built hypocrisies in the theory and the practice of statecraft and a rising trend for individualism are a few of the key issues that require to be addressed through a philosophical discourse.

During Gen Zia’s times, all potential resistance movements were crushed with a heavy hand. Student bodies were viewed as a potential threat to the regime. Thus, an infinite ban was imposed on elected student unions.

An ideological vacuum has led most of the young people to come to terms with the ‘realities,’ resulting in the most mundane of responses. Consumerism is now perceived by many as an inherent ingredient of the present and future ways of life. The educated youth are avidly conscripted to this myopic form of lifestyle without any restraint.

A spate of hypocritical approaches by the individuals and institutions representing the state has cast a heavy impact on such budding minds. Globalisation has imposed its own crude tenets of a societal framework which ignores even rudimentary forms of non-conformity. The bulk of academia is occupied in making the most of the crude capitalism that has tagged ‘education’ as a commodity.

In the course of reaping windfall benefits, academics have little time to move towards anything worth calling a political ideology. Surely, the educated youth alone cannot be blamed for the emerging scenario.

Senator Raza Rabbani has rightly said that student unions nurtured leaders. He was delivering Asma Jehangir Memorial Lecture in Islamabad a few days ago. If one observes those occupying key political offices, many immensely benefitted from their experiences of student politics and activism. Benazir Bhutto was active in student politics during her studies abroad. The incumbent president was a student activist during the late 1960s and after.

Despite this and more evidence, the ruling classes do not approve of students practicing politics. For them and others, it is a dangerous pursuit. Violence and student politics are taken as synonymous in our context. Traditionally, student unions were the institutions that streamlined student participation in political and intellectual activities. But unions developed many imperfections.

One, student unions were easily taken over by political objectives of participating groups. Instead of focusing on the well-being of the student these unions claimed to represent, the elected unions became dictatorial despots that aimed to enforce the political (and religious) manifesto of their parent outfits.

Two, violence and use of brute force became the trademark of student politics. Use of fire arms, hostage taking on campuses and intra-student clashes left few sympathisers for the cause of unions. Three, many unions did not take into account the vital services needed by the student fraternity. Career counselling and seminars, healthy co-curricular activities, such as declamation contests, arts and crafts or literary pursuits, philosophical debates and guidance to positive political awareness were scantily dealt with.

Tolerance and co-existence of both genders on the campus was frequently a contentious issue. Frequent closure of campuses caused inordinate delays in the completion of degree programmes. The situation became so bad that paramilitary outfits were posted at the campuses.

Apolitical societies degenerate fast. One way is to begin a national debate about the form and format of engaging students in political discourse. Perhaps unions in the conventional form are anachronistic. There is a need to pilot other options to enable student fraternities to practice democracy pertinent to their own and larger matters.

The writer is an academic and researcher based in Karachi