by Kashif Abbasi in Dawn, Sept 23, 2023
• Dictator Zia banned student unions in 1984 to quell uprisings
• CJP Isa lends support to syndicate’s decision
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa on Friday lent his support to a decision to revive the Quaid-i-Azam
University’s (QAU) students’ union, a move that, it is hoped, will pave the way for the revival of student unions in other
universities as well.
The decision was taken during a syndicate meeting chaired by the university’s Vice Chancellor, Niaz Ahmad Akhtar, and attended
by the chief justice of Pakistan, who is a member of the forum by virtue of his position. Justice Isa is the second CJP, after
former chief justice Rana Bhagwandas, to have attended a QAU syndicate meeting.
Student 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 seem poised to be the first to get their democratic rights back……
https://www.dawn.com/news/1777383/student-union-set-to-be-revived-at-quaid-i-azam-university
