IT was an interesting turn of events in terms of students’ power in our society — in the 1970s, that is. As mentioned last week, the students of Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) had sent cables to the president of the country and governor of Sindh (Z A Bhutto and Mumtaz Bhutto, respectively) with a few demands. When things did not happen the way they wanted, they occupied the institute and on Jan 10, 1972 the students took over complete control of Dawood College of Engineering and Technology and even conducted regular classes. The media called it a “red letter day” in the college’s history as senior students with “excellent” academic background assumed the role of teachers, and taught lessons to their juniors in the absence of their professors (who had stopped coming to the institution because of the ongoing agitation). “It was a fine display of unity and discipline by the students of the college who conducted their own affairs with considerable ease,” one of the reports said.

The next day, Jan 11, it was announced that the students had achieved victory on the 10th day of their occupation of the college since all their demands were accepted by the management of the institution, including removal of the principal. As a result, a new acting principal — Prof M Muneer Qureshi — was appointed with the consent of the agitators.

While the pupils had power in those days, journalists were still trying to assert their importance in the country (which is a continuing effort, it seems). On Jan 10, it was reported that despite the announcement made by the President of Pakistan that the national press was free to perform its duties, some “well-placed bureaucrats” were causing hindrances in the way of mediamen’s free functioning using “objectionable language”. As per details, on Jan 9, a high official of local police misbehaved with nine senior journalists who wanted to ascertain the actual situation prevailing in Karachi’s Central Jail where the prisoners had gone on a strike. They wanted to visit the troubled spot so that they could verify or negate the official version that everything was normal in the facility. The police official, instead of accepting the request turned it down in a typical bureaucratic style. The journalists brought the matter to the notice of the divisional commissioner, strongly protesting against the attitude of the officer concerned.

The commissioner apologised to the newsmen on behalf of the Karachi Police.

The above-mentioned news items may not sound too out of the ordinary, but a slightly unusual piece of information that week caught this newspaper’s attention. On Jan 14, a story published in Dawn highlighted that “completing an exciting courtship” three male seahorses in the KMC Aquarium at Clifton were now pregnant, while their females moved about free and unburdened. Funny and unbelievable, the story went on to explain, “The seashore is a rare species of fish which makes the male give birth to the young contrary to all the natural rules of reproduction.” The birth was due at the end of January of early February. Imported from Singapore and Manila at different periods, there were 20 seahorses in the aquarium.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2022