ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa may not see a revival of student unions during his tenure, as his fully supported Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) syndicate’s decision, seeking revival of unions at the university has not been implemented as yet.

QAU syndicate had decided last year to revive student unions at QAU- a step which was widely appreciated by students and others, as it was hoped that the revival of unions at QAU will pave the way for the revival of unions in other universities of the country.

Chief Justice, being a member of the QAU syndicate had attended the meeting in September last year and not only supported the revival of unions, but also recommended that the union be modelled around Oxford University’s student union, which has produced a number of world leaders.

“CJP is due to retire next month, but QAU syndicate’s decision has not been implemented as yet. If unions are not revived during his tenure, their revival will be very difficult as successive governments under the pretext of a previous judgment of the Supreme Court of 1993 always avoided holding elections,” said an official of QAU.

He said that CJP, who being a member of the board of governors of various universities took special interest in education sectors. “He should also summons QAU administration to explain why elections are not being held as he held Islamic University’s management accountable for alleged misdeeds,” said an official adding that “we expect that the chief justice will pay special focus on QAU.”

However, when contacted an administrative officer of QAU claimed that the election of the student union would be held soon.

“Our new semester has started and during this semester we will hold elections,” he said and when asked about deadline, the officer said a committee formed by the syndicate will announce the date for election.

It is relevant to note here Student the unions were banned in 1984 by the dictator Ziaul Haq in an effort to quell student uprisings against his oppressive policies. The decision had left a significant vacuum in Pakistan’s political landscape.

Four decades thence, the students at QAU last year seemed poised to be the first to get their democratic rights back. Later a committee formed by QAU syndicate also finalised code of conduct for holding elections, but the university failed to hold the same.

Last year during a syndicate meeting, Chief Justice, while discussing Ziaul Haq’s regime, had observed that Gen Zia’s Martial Law Order had been repealed by an Act of Parliament in 1989. He had also pointed to a 1993 Supreme Court judgement, though disapproved of students’ involvement in politics, also allowed for and appreciated the existence of elected bodies which address students’ issues and arrange co-curricular activities for them.

After discussion, the syndicate unanimously decided to revive QAU’s students’ union, which is an elected body representing all students of the university.

Before the QAU’s syndicate meeting, successive governments made several commitments for the revival of student unions, but no practical steps were ever taken to this effect.

In 2017, the Senate, then headed by Mian Raza Rabbani, had adopted a resolution for the revival of student unions, but it remained unimplemented.

Later, during the PTI regime, then prime minister Imran Khan also expressed support for the restoration of student unions following protests across the country. However, once again, no practical step was taken in this regard.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2024