"Restoration must hinge on a clear code of ethics" -- Pervez Hoodbhoy, professor of physics, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad
The News on Sunday: How do you look at the current incidents of violence by IJT in Peshawar University and now Punjab University?

"This is an ideological war"
Syed Abdul Rasheed is the sitting Nazim-e-Al'a (chief) of Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT) Pakistan. Based in Lyari, south of Karachi, he studied International Relations from the University of Karachi and is currently a law student at S M College. He remained the nazim of IJT Karachi chapter for two years and central secretary general of the organisation for another two years before he was elected as IJT central chief in 2009 at the age of 29.
TNS spoke with him in detail about the role of student bodies in general and that of IJT in particular, and queried about the organisation's public impression as 'violent' and 'intolerant'. This is what he had to say:
By Waqar Gillani
The News on Sunday: How do you view violence by student organisations on campuses?

Engineered clash
The otherwise peaceful Peshawar University is now closed for more than three weeks, following the murder of a final year engineering student by a rival student group
By Javed Aziz Khan

Rules of aggression
Politics at the University of Karachi has undergone a transformation -- so much so that today the teachers incite students and there is no one to check any one
By Shahid Husain

Fortress of IJT
Lack of political will on the part of the government has turned Punjab University into a sanctuary of right-wing Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT), say the academics associated with the varsity

In less than a month, two public universities have been closed for all academic activities after two incidents of gruesome violence. Members of Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT), student wing of Jamaat Islami, have allegedly been involved both in the murder of a final year engineering student in Peshawar University and the severe beating of a Punjab University professor Iftikhar Baloch and the ransacking of his office. Baloch also happened to be the head of the disciplinary committee that had unanimously ordered the rustication of two and the expulsion of four students, all belonging to IJT.

These incidents have come about at a time when all union activity is technically banned. The prime minister in his first address had announced to lift the ban on student unions but that promise is yet to be realised. The violence in these two universities clearly shows that the only activity that is banned is holding of elections. This means any new thinking about student politics has not had a chance to be adequately reflected in the campuses.

Gen Ziaul Haq who banned students unions in the early 1980s allowed selective groups, including IJT, to exercise their influence in universities. It is these groups who have held sway over institutions all these years in terms of controlling the admission and examination policy, hostel allotments, and appointments and promotions of teachers.

Meanwhile, the ground realities have changed and the students of today are not willing to surrender to these armed groups and the atmosphere of terror unleashed by them. The frustration of these erstwhile sponsored student groups is obvious -- under no circumstances are they willing to let go of their immense control.

The present government, it seems, is apprehensive about lifting the ban on union activity. A wave of violence across educational institutions -- as the new thinking gets a chance to gain influence -- is the last thing the government wants at this stage.

But then, can the government allow the violence of the kind as has been seen in recent weeks in public universities? What needs to be clarified is that the banning of union activity per se is no guarantee of a good standard of education. As pointed out by Dr Kaiser Bengali, if this were the case, "the quality of education should have shown some improvement after student unions were banned. Student unions cannot be made a scapegoat for the state's failures to prioritise education."

It has been suggested by some student groups that the government should announce a schedule for union elections as well as devise a code of conduct to be followed by these unions. We at TNS fully concur except we think the government needs to spend some useful time in formulating this code of conduct before it announces an election. It needs to have wider consultations with all stakeholders. The findings of a study conducted by an NGO Bargad on union politics across all public sector universities may come in handy for the purpose.

We believe that this code of conduct alone will ensure that the union activity leads to the kind of dividends we expect from our leaders of tomorrow.

Most students in public sector universities and colleges believe there is nothing good about politics. Even those who participate in what are essentially political activities from time to time are at pains to distinguish their 'noble causes' from the realm of politics. There are, of course, significant exceptions to this general trend: in Balochistan and Sindh, politics and political workers are viewed with respect. Here it is not considered an oxymoron to talk of a 'people's politics'. Students are highly mobilised and help in the framing of political debates.

In Punjab the negative perception of politics amongst young people mirrors that of society at large. Short-term interests rather than principles or ideas inform political exchanges. While cynicism does exist to some extent in other parts of the country as well, in Punjab it is widespread, and on this count students are at the head of the queue.

This is hardly surprising given how the culture of university and college campuses has degenerated over the years. Academic standards have plunged for two related reasons. First, the Zia regime systematically purged scholars from the academy – and particularly those of a progressive bent – and in their place inducted ideologues and sycophants. Second, the educational curriculum, which was not particularly good to begin with, was distorted further and made subject to the political imperatives of the establishment.

But this was not enough for the great Islamiser. The banning of student unions turned campuses into barren wastelands. The Islami Jamiat-e-Tulaba (IJT) was allowed to operate with impunity which meant the university environment underwent a fundamental change; while in the 1970s there was conflict and even violence between rival student groups hailing from the left and right of the political spectrum, the establishment of an IJT monopoly gave rise to perverse form of moral policing which meant not only that politics was outlawed but also that cultural freedoms were suppressed.

The Zia regime was not only responsible for facilitating the rise of the IJT menace. In Karachi the All-Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation (APMSO) came to play a role much like the IJT in most Punjabi educational institutions. In short the state was willing to instrumentalise religion, ethnicity and anything else necessary to undermine the relatively expansive and idea-driven political culture amongst young people that had hitherto prevailed.

In recent times it has become commonplace for commentators to bemoan the state's failure on many counts, including delivery of services, provision of justice and maintaining a semblance of order and stability. But more than 30 years after Zia-ul-Haq came to power, a look at the prevailing atmosphere on most Punjabi college and university campuses makes clear that the state has not failed; it has in fact succeeded in achieving its objectives of demobilising young people and introducing parochial ideas into the social mainstream.

That this 'success' has come at a high price in the sense that polarisation – particularly along ethnic lines – has become acute is by and by. This state has never conceived of 'success' in hegemonic ways; it is concerned simply with suppressing dissent, or, at the very least, in ensuring that dissent remains fragmented.

So while it is true that young people in Punjab do come together and take up collective social and political causes – even if they are simply demanding a right to a decent education, as is the case with Punjab University students where the IJT has made life simply unbearable – such mobilisations are rare and suffer from the absence of student unions and/or organisations that are guided by clear principles.

This is why students find it difficult to conceive of politics in a positive way and why even overtly political activity is often described as 'non-political'. This culture is not likely to change until and unless there is meaningful implementation of the present government's commitment to restore student unionism. Many argue that taking such a step will not necessarily do away with the culture of violence and parochialism amongst students. They are probably right that this culture will persist in the short-run. But in the medium and long-run there is no other option than to revive political and cultural debates and activities of all kinds. Only then can an alternative, democratic culture of politics take root amongst young people.

I do not believe that the environment on college and university campuses in the 1960s and 1970s needs to be romanticised. As I have already suggested, violence became increasingly common in the 1970s. This was a result of a rapidly changing society awash with conflicting conceptions of the route to modernity. Let us bear in mind that Ayub Khan had attempted to curtail student politics for the best part of his 11 years in power. Hence no democratic culture of politics was allowed to develop through the mid 1960s. This suppression of young people precipitated an explosion of student activism in the late 1960s and then during the tenure of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto that was characterised by bouts of sensationalism and misguided militancy.

This is precisely why it is important that the elected government recognise the need to pay attention to what is going on in our higher educational institutions and not instead wait for things to boil over. Simply carrying over the Higher Education Commission (HEC) formed under Musharraf's military regime is neither here nor there. In fact rehabilitating academic standards is virtually impossible in a repressed political and cultural environment. Even restoring student unions – that are allowed to operate according to a democratic and principled code of conduct – is not enough. As soon as our children are enrolled at primary school they are taught to be subservient, memorise rather that synthesise, and focus on individual social mobility rather than develop collective and civic responsibility.

It is a terrible cliché but it is also very accurate: today's young people are the leaders of tomorrow. At least a segment of our current political leadership learned to ply their trade as student leaders. I am willing to vouch for the fact that the majority of these erstwhile student leaders are better politicians than those whose politics is a family affair or is dictated by General Headquarters (GHQ). Indeed if some semblance of a culture of politics is regenerated on our college and university campuses, we might even be able to go beyond the Jehangir Badrars and Javed Hashmis. Surely it is time to try.

A clash over a petty issue that led to the murder of an engineering student in Hostel-III of the NWFP University of Engineering and Technology has brought the academic activities in as many as four public-sector universities to a halt. A crackdown is underway on around 30 hostels within the campus to oust the troublemakers and outsiders. Over the years, clashes have mostly erupted in these hostels occupied by members of different political groups and influential individuals who have nothing to do with studies.

The University of Peshawar campus, despite having a huge student population and structure, has a rather peaceful history. There have been only a couple of clashes between student groups since 1984 that led to the killing of one student. "Killing in clashes is not something unusual for other universities but not for UoP. The last such incident may have been in 1983," recalls Yousuf Ali, a former student.

Ali expressed his surprise that the university had been closed for over three weeks -- something which he said was unprecedented.

"Student wings of different political parties that cause law and order situation in the campus must be banned. There should be a student union that fights for our rights but no student wings of political parties should be allowed to play havoc with peace on the campus," says Nadeem Hussain, a final-year student of the university.

The recent turmoil in the campus started on March 11, 2010, the day when Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT), a student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, had arranged a Seerat-un-Nabi Conference in Hostel-III of the NWFP University of Engineering and Technology. A group of IJT activists exchanged arguments with the occupants of a room in the hostel after they refused to stop playing music which they thought was disturbing the conference. An exchange of harsh words and abusive language soon turned into a fist fight and, later, a free-style clash during which a final year student of the engineering university, Adnan Qadir, was brutally beaten with heavy batons, said to be cricket stumps, due to which he fell unconscious. Five other students were also injured who were taken to the hospital. After remaining in coma for six days, Adnan lost his battle for life at a hospital bed, only six months after his marriage. The news of his death provoked his friends and activists of rival student unions to attack the rooms of the IJT activists in revenge. The latter had already managed to escape, sensing the situation. The members of Muttahida Tulaba Mahaz, an umbrella organisation of a number of anti-IJT student unions, ransacked the rooms of the alleged killers of Adnan, setting their books and belongings on fire.

The electronic media further fanned the flames and presented a picture of complete mess in the campus due to which the four universities and the affiliated institutions were closed for an indefinite period of time. Besides, the students were ordered to vacate the hostels.

A murder case was registered against nine activists of the IJT, one of whom was apprehended from Karak. The family and friends of Adnan are demanding to include Section 7 ATA in the FIR. Apart from the ICU and two girls' colleges -- Jinnah College for Women and Home Economics College -- the rest of the institutions are yet to reopen.

"It is very unfortunate that a young student has been killed just for playing music. I support the student wings of political parties but they should raise issues related to students," opines a student, Alya Rahman.

Spread over 1045 acres of land and having a population of around 75,000 people, the University of Peshawar has the unique honour of imparting education right from playgroup up to the PhD and post-doctorate level. In fact, the university has given birth to three other universities -- Khyber Medical University (KMU), NWFP University of Engineering and Technology (NUET), NWFP Agriculture University (NAU) and the recently upgraded Islamia College University (ICU). All these institutions were first affiliated departments of the UoP and even today are located within the premises of the UoP campus. The UoP alone has 196 faculty houses of various categories, 30 post-graduate departments and institutes, 4 constituent colleges, 5 centres of excellence, two constituent high schools besides several other schools on its premises and over 100,000 regular and private students. The existing faculty of 84 professors, 69 associate and 129 assistant professors and 213 lecturers include 170 PhDs and 215 M Phils. These do not include the faculty of KMU, NUET, NAU and ICU.

For such a huge establishment, authorities have sometimes found it hard to maintain law and order within the campus. Apart from setting up special Campus Police Corps (CPC) in 1987, a separate police lines was established within the campus to maintain law and order. The CPC is normally being headed by a senior superintendent of police (SSP) rank officer who has nothing to do with the rest of the city and is answerable only to capital city police officer (CCPO).

Amid reports that authorities are looking for a plan to stop further construction of hostels or use the existing buildings for other purposes to minimise the population of the UoP, educational activities in the university are resuming gradually with the opening of a few institutions in the first phase.

What was once a pretty peaceful and 'liberal' campus where girls and boys would mingle has undergone metamorphosis -- and fundamentalist and ethnic organisations rule the University of Karachi.

"Student unions that were banned by Ziaul Haq in 1983 acted as a deterrent against hooliganism and violence because year after year student organisations had to go back to the electorate and face them," says Dr Abid Azhar, Co-Director General, A K Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, UoK, and a former student activist, talking to TNS.

"They had to show an innocent face even if they were involved in negative activities. Today, the process of accountability through student unions is missing."

He recalls that the right-wing Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT) behaved arrogantly in the past also but it was capably resisted by left-wing National Students Federation (NSF) and the liberal and enlightened students of the university. For instance, Dr Zafar Arif, a professor of philosophy at the university, who happened to be a Marxist, was beaten up by the IJT boys in early 1970s -- "for his liberal views". But IJT lost the elections. Similarly, Dr Shahid Zahid, an eminent economist, was forced by IJT to quit. Dr Zafar Arif was unceremoniously removed by a general who happened to be the chancellor of the university.

Dr Abid has several other instances to quote: "I remember, once the teachers at the Applied Economics Research Centre (AERC) were playing a friendly cricket match in which female teachers were also participating. This provoked the IJT people and they broke the windscreens of the teachers' cars.

"They wanted to impose their brand of Islam. They preached segregation and acquired control of the university resources such as transport, canteen and photocopiers through sheer force and even made money."

In fact, it was the administration that paved the way for segregation. Major (retd) Aftab Hasan, the proctor at the KU issued a circular in 1970 that said that girls and boys should keep a distance of three feet when they were talking to each other. He became a laughing stock at that point of time but his philosophy ultimately prevailed.

"IJT became a 'role model' for violence, at a later stage, for ethnic organizations also," he says, adding that violence increased at the campus because there was nobody to resist it.

Previously, student unions acted as barriers to violence. "Tolerance has become extinct in a typical Pakistani society and the phenomenon has impacted students as well," says Prof Peerzada Qasim, Vice Chancellor of the University of Karachi.

"Even though certain modalities have been evolved by the present government for the revival of student unions, there are several hitches in the way of the implementation of the decision in letter and spirit."

According to Dr Syed Jaffer Ahmed, Chairman, Pakistan Study Centre, University of Karachi, and a leading political scientist, "Historically, our society has remained vulnerable to violence because of its socio-economic makeup and political conditions. We have built our society on the values of regimentation, intolerance and a lack of acceptance of dissent."

He says that people fed on such unhealthy values can at any point of time be used to perpetrate violence. "It was in the 1980s when under the martial law regime and amidst enthusiasm for jihad in Afghanistan, we opened our gates to all sorts of weapons that proved to be the last nail in the coffin. Ever since, all means of dialogue and dissent have been replaced by a culture of aggression and dictating the terms through the barrel of the gun.

"Our universities have fast degenerated academically, mainly due to political pressures," he adds. "As a result, violence has been adopted as a useful and viable medium of ensuring one's interests." he said.

Dr Muttahir Ahmed, professor of international relations at the University of Karachi, and Vice President, Karachi University Teachers' Society (KUTS) concurs. "Under Zia's rule, the culture of violence was introduced in Pakistani politics, especially when the military regime got involved in Afghan crisis. The religious elements got directly involved in Afghan Jihad with the support of the Pakistani state. Previously, the University of Karachi had a tradition to resist dictatorial regimes. In order to counter progressive and democratic forces the state provided support to fundamentalist elements.

"Today, the entire landscape of Karachi's politics has changed and religious extremism has transformed into ethnic extremism," he adds. "The degree of violence is very high and uncontrollable. I don't know how it can be contained."

"Either one has to kill or he must be killed," says Dr Kaneez Fatima-Shad, professor at Punjwani Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Karachi.

The campus politics has undergone such a great transformation that the teachers incite for jihad and there is nobody to check them. The psyche has also undergone tremendous change over the past 40 years. Earlier, one would find only a few students clad in burqa or hijab; today, a vast majority of girl students observe purdah, and their outlook is also quite myopic.

vaqargillani@gmail.com