ISLAMABAD ( STAFF REPORT )
The Women Democratic Front, Islamabad-Rawalpindi unit, joined hundreds of students, political workers and concerned citizens to call for the restoration of student unions, and the redress of the many issues afflicting students across the country.
The march in Islamabad outside the National Press Club was one of many Student Union Restoration Marches organised across Pakistan by students to voice their demands. These demands include elections at every university to elect student representatives; increase in education budget; an immediate end to privatization of education and increase in tuition fees; access to the internet for students from Balochistan, the former FATA region, Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan; removal of security forces from campuses; recovery of missing students; and the formation of sexual harassment committees to investigate cases of harassment by college / university staff and teachers.
In a joint statement, the Women Democratic Front president, Ismat Shahjahan, and General Secretary Alia Bakhshal, said that parliamentary political parties remain uninterested in serving young people and addressing their problems. They are only interested in the youth in so far as they can help those in power further their imperialist, capitalist and patriarchal interests. They also want the youth to remain depoliticized so that they cannot effectively organize for their rights.
“Following the passage of the 18th Amendment, provinces are in a position to restore student unions,” said Ismat Shahjahan. “We demand that they exercise this right immediately and allow students to politically organize on campuses. Only then will we see the emergence of any meaningful democratic reform in the country.”
Alia Bakhshal demanded that PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement) includes restoration of student unions in its charter. “It is time that Pakistan allows young people the chance to play a constructive and meaningful role in building their own and the country’s future,” she said. “Any democratic movement that isn’t serious about addressing the rights of students is not serious about the country’s future or about democracy.”
Secretary information for Women Democratic Front, Tooba Syed, said that as a socialist and feminist organization, WDF endorses the demands of the Student Union Restoration March and is committed to working alongside student groups and organisations in this fight. “The WDF salutes the efforts of student groups who have managed to successfully organize in these difficult times. From the education divide between urban centers and the peripheries which has become so much more prominent during the pandemic, to instances of harassment on campuses from Balochistan to Gilgit-Baltistan, and the penalizing of students who dare to speak out against these injustices, students in Pakistan are being attacked on multiple fronts. We invite all progressive forces to stand shoulder to shoulder with them in their struggle for rights and a brighter future.”