THE five college teachers’ 48-hour hunger strike on March 2 (it started with four but subsequently they were joined by one more) had unnerved the authorities. The reason was that now the student community, which was already active in the agitation against the government, had announced that it would support the teachers every step of the way.

On March 4, 1969 a big number of student organisations came out to show solidarity with the teaching staff of the city’s colleges. Tasnimul Hasan Farooqi, general secretary of the National Students Federation (NSF, Rasheed group) expressed concern over the crisis resulting from non-acceptance of the teachers’ demands –– a judicial inquiry into atrocities perpetrated against the students, reinstatement of dismissed teachers, immediate reopening of educational institutions and withdrawal of the university bill. President of the Muslim Students Federation (MSF), Shahinshah Hussain, assured them that his group, too, would be part of the protest rally that was planned for that day.

A tense situation developed outside the entrance to the commissioner’s office where the protesters, led by the strikers (Dr Alia Imam, Zakia Sarwar, Mustafa Hasnain, Mahmoodul Hasan Nayyar and Zafar Umer Zuberi) had gone to meet the Karachi commissioner. They were miffed at the fact that they were kept waiting for 15 minutes at the entrance. First, the commissioner, Syed Darbar Ali Shah, was unwilling to come out to talk to the protestors, and then the office-bearers of the West Pakistan College Teachers Association (WPCTA) refused to step into his office.

The same day, a second batch of four teachers went on hunger strike for 48 hours. They were: Ishtiaq Talib of Jinnah College, S. A. Qadri of Islamia College, Iqbal Mirza of S. M. College and a woman teacher, Zohra Dawood, of PECHS College. On March 5, Ishtiaq Talib decided to continue his fast unto death if the authorities did not lend a sympathetic ear to the teachers. A meeting of the action committee of the WPCTA approved of Mr Talib’s offer given the apathetic attitude of the authorities towards the situation. WPCTA president Anita Ghulam Ali told the media that Zohra Dawood would extend her two-day strike to a further 48 hours. Another teacher, Salim Ahmed Razmi of Urdu College, was also to begin his strike that morning.

It should be mentioned here that on March 3, the students had already started their anti-Press and Publication Ordinance week. On March 5, the campaign’s third day, workers of the MSF and the Inter-Collegiate Body demonstrated in front of the newspaper offices. According to an MSF press release, student leaders gathered outside a local daily demanding the repeal of the press ordinance. They assured journalists of their support in the struggle for restoring journalistic freedom in the country.

On the evening of March 6, Mr Talib fell ill. A health bulletin issued by two doctors — S. H. Naqvi and Muhammad Sarwar — at 5.30pm said that his pulse had gone weak. He had also vomited in the morning. The doctors suspected symptoms of blood poisoning and advised extreme caution. Later in the evening, Mr Talib’s condition further deteriorated. The action committee requested him to break the fast, which he refused. Out of the four strikers, two had broken the fast at 11am. But Salim Ahmad Razmi and Zohra Dawood extended theirs to another 48 hours.

In another gesture of solidarity, the students followed in their teachers’ footsteps: four of them went on a similar strike on March 6. Of the four, two — Zohra Yasmin Jafri and Ali Mohammad Jafri — were school students, while the others were: Riazuddin Farooqi of Islamia College and Alam Zulfiqar Zaidi of Sirajuddaula College.

What were the other students doing on March 6? Well, they staged a demonstration in Liaquatabad on the fourth day of the ‘Repeal Press Ordinance’ week.

Mind you, this phase in the history of the city was also critical because of the ethno-linguistic dimension that the whole scenario had taken after riots in the Sindh capital. On March 8, a former vice president of the Karachi Awami League, Faiz Mohammad Soomro, appealed to the old and new Sindhis to remain united and not be led away by the propaganda of the disruptionists. In a statement he said: “New Sindhis (Mohajirs) may feel that Jeay Sindh is a slogan only for the rights of old Sindhis or that it is directed against the new Sindhis, which is incorrect. In fact, Jeay Sindh symbolises all the population in Sindh.”

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2019