ISLAMABAD: Parliamentarians and civil society activists on Tuesday stressed the need for the revival of student unions in the country.

Speaking on the second day of the ‘National conference on political participation of women, minorities and youth’, even parliamentarians called for establishing student unions.

The conference was organised by Democracy Reporting International in collaboration with Women Parliamentary Caucuses of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Punjab Youth Parliamentary Caucus.

Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Syeda Shehla Raza said she started her political activities from a student union, adding the forums helped the youth understand their rights and set political directions. “But dictators do not like to see this.”

Speakers at a conference say lifting ban on student unions will improve youth participation in politics

She also spoke about women empowerment and said higher women participation did not merely mean to increase the number of seats in assemblies but it implied to empower women to vote on her own choice instead of following the dictations of male family members.

Other speakers, including some civil society members and parliamentarians including MNA Murad Saeed of PTI and Sardar Vakas Mokal, MPA Punjab belonging to PML-Q, demanded lifting the ban on student unions in order to further improve the political participation of the youth.

Murad Saeed squarely blamed former military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq for creating gaps in the political process by banning the student unions.

The participants were informed about a study carried out by the British Council which showed the youth in the country lacked trust in the political system and suggested that youngsters should be treated as partners in the political process.

Speaking on the issue of limited women participation in politics, Nusrat Sehar Abbasi, a PML-F MPA from Sindh, said male MPAs with typical mindset in assemblies were also reluctant to take up the issues of women and advocate for the legislative and policy level reforms.

She said political parties needed to recognise the important role of women in politics.

“No MNA or MPA can win without the support of women workers who go from door to door seeking votes,” she added.

Dr Nosheen Saeed, a PTI MPA from Punjab, said the patriarchal mindset was reflected from the opposition to the recent women protection bill approved in Punjab.

Minorities’ rights activists Romana Bashir and Haroon Sarab Dayal narrated tales of discrimination and violence against Hindus and Christians at the hands of their relatives.

They called for the implementation of constitutional provisions and international conventions signed by Pakistan that granted equal treatment and rights to the religious minorities.

MNA Lal Malhi of PTI said extremism was a national threat but none of the successive governments had tried to stand against it. “Now even the Minorities Rights Commission of Pakistan has more clerics than the members of the non-Muslim communities.” Mr Malhi added.

Senator Rubina Khalid of PPP, Dr Shama Ishaq, MPA Balochistan, Senator Sitara Ayaz, MPA, Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani, MPA, Mary Gill and others also spoke.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2016