07 January 2004	Wednesday	14 Ziqa'ad 1424

KARACHI, Jan 6: Protesters belonging to the defunct Democratic Students' Federation incurred the wrath of law- enforcement agencies when exactly 51 years ago they took to the streets to draw the attention of the education authorities towards their problems.

Few remember today how life came to a standstill in the then capital of Pakistan when seven people were killed and 59 others wounded in police firing in January 1953. Left-wing political parties, which used to commemorate the day in the past, no longer remember those who laid down their lives during the first police action against students after the creation of Pakistan.

Talking to Dawn on Tuesday, Dr Mohammad Sarwar, one of the founding members of the DSF, said that on Jan 7, 1953 a students' procession, which had marched from the D.J. Sindh College to the residence of the then education minister, Fazlur Rahman, had been tear-gassed by the police.

This newspaper reported on Jan 8, 1953 that "before using tear-gas the police announced over loudspeakers that the procession was illegal. The procession, however, continued, winding its way along Frere Road and Elphinstone Street. At Elphinstone Street the police used tear-gas for the first time to disperse the students.

The students broke into two main groups: one went into Somerset Street where tear-gas was again used while the second group went towards Victoria Road where the police also used gas bombs. The students then broke up into smaller groups and assembled in front of Mr Fazlur Rahman's house on Kutchery Road. The police again used tear-gas."

According to Dr Sarwar, the protesting students did manage to call on the education minister. Mr Rahman, who is also known for his brilliant translation of the first volume of Seerut-un- Nabi by Allama Shibli Nomani, told the students that he would personally take up the matter of reduction of tuition fees. He also asked the vice-chancellor of the University of Karachi, Prof A.B.A. Haleem, who earlier worked as pro vice-chancellor of Aligarh University, to see that regulations regarding standard of living were enforced and a scheme about night classes drawn up by a committee of the university syndicate. However, he made clear that since reinstitution of supplementary examinations was a purely academic matter he would not interfere in it.

The following day (Jan 8, 1953) more violence erupted on the streets of Saddar when the police opened fire on a "defiant mob", leaving seven people dead and 59 others wounded. Police repression was so brutal that even the then prime minister, Khawaja Nazimuddin, issued a conciliatory press statement. Addressing the students, he said: "I am addressing the youth of the country. Everyone of you is as dear to me as my own children. I am affectionately devoted to you all and am addressing you tonight as a loving father."

Saghir Ahmad Naqvi, former secretary of the High School Students Federation which had endorsed the DSF call for protest, recalled that a couple of demands of the students had been met by the education authorities. "For instance, firstly the government, which used to collect fees for six months at one go, started to receive tuition fees on a monthly basis. Secondly, on our demand the government started to give supplementary exams. Thirdly, it commissioned a separate and bigger campus for the University of Karachi," he said.