Marching for rights

Students organising the march this year have conceded that a similar march last year failed to produce any results


Editorial November 24, 2019
PHOTO: FILE

Students across the country are preparing to march for their right to better education and a fair academic environment — on November 29. Among their list of demands is the withdrawal of an affidavit that students are required to sign when obtaining an admission that they would not partake in student unions and political activities. They are also averse to “stifling” academic conditions and “unnecessary” interference from security forces; hike in fees; and non-provision of basic facilities such as transport, libraries, computers, internet, etc. Moreover, they want a crackdown on sexual harassment on campuses.

Most of these demands being pushed through the Student Solidarity March are valid. Even though the government has removed restrictions on student unions, they remain in effect through several auxiliary rules and regulations. Many universities have also imposed stringent restrictions on interactions between male and female students, and how they should dress up. The universities may feel justified over some of these measures, but they must offer students a patient hearing and perhaps come to a midpoint.

The restriction on student unions is contrary to the fundamental democratic rights of students. The planned march proves that one way or another, students will either form groups or unionise. There, however, remains the question of whether a march can help bring about change. Students organising the march this year have conceded that a similar march last year failed to produce any meaningful results. And that is also true of even larger mass protests the country keeps witnessing from time to time. We are not only a state that has pushed the marginalised to protest in the streets, but we have now turned so callous that such protests do not even raise an eyebrow. Perhaps we now suffer from ‘march syndrome’.

The provision of a conducive and relatively intellectually free environment is imperative for producing graduates who can think critically. How do we expect the upcoming generation to lift this country if we keep putting them in boxes and making them robots prone to repeat the same mistakes of the previous generation?

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2019.

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