KARACHI: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday requested the reinstatement of student unions throughout the nation after Sindh approved a bill to revive the entities.
“A new leadership will develop via this nursery […] as student unions played a key role in eliminating the dictatorship. The contribution of students in the campaign against (dictator) Zia-ul-Haq was historic,” he stated, while addressing an event in the province capital.
Emphasising the necessity for students unions, he said intolerance and extremism were on the increase in society and this was owing to the lack of students unions — which were outlawed during previous dictator Gen Zia’s rule, some four decades ago.
Bilawal said costs were growing in educational institutions throughout the province and harassment of students was also on the increase.
The PPP chairman added that with the rebirth of these unions, harassment complaints would be probed anytime, students would have their voice in the issue and when an educational institution would contemplate a fee rise, they would have to consult the students first.
The provincial legislature overwhelmingly approved the Sindh Student Union Bill, 2019, last week, which offered representation to students in educational institutions’ syndicate, senate, and anti-harassment committees.
The law specified that no student could use or possess firearms on campus, adding that educational establishments would determine the rules and regulations linked to the union two months after the measure is approved.
PPP turns guns on the government
Turning his guns on the government, Bilawal claimed an “illegitimate, inefficient, and incompetent” rule had been “imposed on the people”, which had generated a crisis of poverty, unemployment, and inflation.
“They began an assault against Pakistan’s economic prosperity,” the PPP chairman remarked.
Bilawal said PPP will march to Islamabad from Karachi on February 27 in a quest to remove the existing PTI-led government.
Works at The Truth International Magazine. My area of interest includes international relations, peace & conflict studies, qualitative & quantitative research in social sciences, and world politics. Reach@ [email protected]
