LAHORE: Progressive Student Collective activists’ sit-in continued for the third day on Friday at Charing Cross for the restoration of student unions.

A number of students have established a camp which has been visited by social and political workers, lawyers, members of the Punjab Assembly, journalists and students from different colleges and universities.

Pakistan Bar Council member Abid Saqi said tactically the state during the Zia era banned the student unions to close the door of politics on students. He said the ban had helped the state produce slaves and compliant minds in educational institutions.

“This compliant mind could not raise voice against any injustice and it was the reason to ban student unions in the country and the state had achieved their target during the last 30 years,” he said.

He said right-wing parties flourished on the campuses and the atmosphere was not provided to people with liberal, secular and free minds due to banning the unions.

Haqooq Khalq Movement organiser Farooq Tariq said a police officer visited the camp and called the students who raised voice for their problems as traitors.

He said the police officer did not call those traitors who were bombing security forces and the public in bazaars, mosques, educational institutes and on the border. He said these students were demanding their constitutional rights and were being labelled as traitors.

“We are not afraid of these people who label them with different names and will continue their struggle,” he said.

MPA Rana Manan Khan also approached the students and supported their demands.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2022