Freedom of speech: KU slammed for cancelling Balochistan talk

LAHORE:

Students and faculty of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) issued a statement on Tuesday criticising the Karachi University’s decision to cancel a talk, titled Baloch Missing Persons and The Role of State and Society.

The talk was scheduled to be held on Wednesday (today). The statement was issued by faculty members and students who had wanted to organise a similar talk, titled Un-silencing Balochistan on April 9 but could not due to state intervention. They said the decision to cancel such events was against the freedom of speech and it showed that any discussion on Balochistan remained out of bounds for Pakistani citizens. Referring to murder of Sabeen Mahmud in Karachi and the cancellation of the talk at LUMS, the statement said such events had already fostered more debate and discussion on the Balochistan issue. The faculty and staff organising the talk in Karachi are part of a group called Teacher’s Against War and Oppression.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2015.