THERE are people who often propagate the idea of having ‘student unions’ in order to give the students a platform for raising their voice about matters of their concern. This is because they are either not aware of the negative repercussions of the so-called ‘unions’, or they want revival of unions for their own vested interests. The ethnic councils — student unions with ethnicity as the focal point — at the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) in Islamabad present a case in point.

I have personally witnessed many of my talented university fellows with decent social backgrounds whose academic life has been ruined by these councils. As such, their personalities have undergone a massive transformation because their approach to life as well as their thought process changed under the influence of these councils.

On the other hand, the newcomers, who are often excited about having a chance to indulge in student politics and activism, are systematically manipulated by seniors and ‘cabinet members’ of different ethnic councils through orientation sessions, which are actually nothing but a way to inject hatred, toxicity and cultural bias in the minds of young, gullible minds.

Undeniably, the ethnic councils have contributed greatly to the mounting levels of aggression and violence on the campus.

The principal objective of these ethnic councils for those running the show is to preserve the distinctive cultural identity and dominance over the rest, ignoring that it is against the spirit of pluralism.

As a matter of fact, this distinction is of critical value because QAU has a multi- culture, heterogeneous environment, where almost every ethnic group in the country has a reasonable representation.

Interestingly, one of the main objectives behind the formation of these ethnic councils was that they would dedicatedly work for the students’ welfare and for assisting them in various curricular and co-curricular activities. On the ground, this objective helps these councils increase their membership, which means more foot soldiers, which, in turn, means more clout on the campus.

In essence, such councils and groups play a positive part in academic life of students in universities around the world, but in this specific case at least, they have become platforms for actively promoting hatred, parochialism, discrimination, bias, aggression and violence against fellow students belonging to different ethnic and sociocultural backgrounds.

For instance, in a horrific clash that took place between members of two ethnic councils at QAU recently, one of my close friends, a brilliant student with an impressive academic record, became a victim of vicious campus violence. He received 21 stitches on his head, and got multiple bones fractured. His only mistake, mind you, was that he belonged to a particular ethnicity.

In the light of such violent incidents on campus, it is evident that these councils are not only a threat to the healthy academic atmosphere, but are also responsible for the escalating insecurity on the campus.

There has to be some way to eliminate the prevailing toxic culture at QAU. There is a need to promote campus peace, harmony, cultural inclusivity and respect.

Zuhaib Hussain
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2024