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'We can't just sit idle': For students, a reawakening
LAHORE, Nov 13, 2007: An article by Emily Wax published in the Washington Post on November 12
describes accounting majors at the Lahore University of Management Sciences
(LUMS) as rarely demonstrating and preferring pop music to protest
songs.
The report quotes these students as saying that cynicism about
Pakistan's parade of autocratic and corrupt leaders has replaced civil
disobedience.
"But in computer labs and cafeterias on this campus and
others across the country over the weekend, students were busy making placards
reading 'Democracy Now' and 'Students Against Martial Law', as they prepared to
demonstrate against emergency rule," it says.
"With police lining the
streets on Sunday, and a Bhutto rally blocked by authorities in Rawalpindi on
Friday, many students say they doubt the protest will take place. But even if
the long march turns into only a short protest, one thing is clear: Students are
beginning to step forward in Pakistan's protest movement," it adds.
The
report quotes Ashar Hussain, an engineering student at LUMS as saying: "We're
getting ready, no matter what. It's time for students to show that the future
generation has a voice. We can't just sit idle and do nothing when Pakistan is
suffering. This country is our future."
According to the writer, "Student
protests and campus unions were once a vibrant part of political activism in
Pakistan, even during the nation's birth, but several dictatorial governments
have depoliticised campuses by banning protests and requiring students to sign
agreements not to participate in such activities. Students also blame
themselves. Disillusioned by a string of corrupt and repressive governments,
many said, they stopped caring."
She quotes 20-year-old architecture
student Fatima Babar as saying: "It's like all this bad stuff happens and you
just go numb. Nothing will help anyway, and even our favourite films and songs
became about fluffy stuff and love. This time, though, student consciousness is
starting to awaken, and it feels really good."
She says Imran Khan is one
of the driving forces behind some of the student protests. "So far, there has
been no violence during the student rallies. Some opposition leaders, including
Imran, predicted that the government would lose sympathy among the general
population if it cracked down on the students too harshly." Daily Times
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