history of student politics

8/3/2019 History of Student Politics

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Impact f student activism on education:

Introduction:

WHAT IS POLITICS?

Most introductory text books for student of politics begin with this question. This

is however considerable disagreement regarding how it Is being

answered(burns,2000).one view is that politics has to be solely and uniquely with

activity of the state

(Crick,1979,laski,1931,pickles,1964,miller,1962,heyluuood,1997).there,however,th

ose whom challenge this view because they consider to be narrow, indeed, they

have different ways sought to broaden our understanding of the nature of the

politics. for example one account point that politics has to do with the resolution,

or at least the regulation, of conflict between individuals or groups .a related view

is that politics has to do with the preservation of order with in particular society

(crick,1979).there is also the view that politics involves processor of collective

decisions, making in the societies and (Groups 2003).the fourth view talks about

politics, which has to do with exercise of

power(duverger,1972,leftwhich,1984,lukes,1981)as such ,politics is integral

aspect of all social life .there is understanding of politics that one finds in much


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of the current literature produced by post structure list writers such as. For

example Chantal mouffe (Moufee, 1993) heyuuood has claimed recently that this

last view is both the broadest and most radical definition of politics in the current

literature (Heywood, 1997).

Student politics?

In this research, we focused on the students involvement with the party politics

to clarify the concept .it is important to distinguish level of student politics .as we

mention earlier politics is an activity that requires at least two people .therefore

student politics also requires at least two students consequently merely two

student united activity certain in pursuance of certain aims can be identified as

student politics .there again there are different types of student politics. It must

be borne in mind that types identified by different authors are based on time or

region country/culture (allama, 2003).further we will distinguished three types of

student politics.

Student unity

It is probable that student unity is one of the oldest structure of student politics

(altabach, 1974).when a number of students, whether some or a whole unit of

student body in a school, country or region, form themselves into unity for

executing a certain aim or a number of aims, or campaign in favor of their rights

or even to agitate in order to receive their entitlement; they can be characterized

by thetermstudent unity;(attach, 1974, 1993, ottaway.1968)

Student union


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In some countries ,the students forum/club is also known as union

(altbach,1974,Hamilton ,1968).when a group of students have religion, region, or

any other interest in common forms an organization under certain conditions

within a school ,country or an international context, this is known as the

students union(albach,1947).so, every different group of students having one

or more interest or aspects in common can form a different student union with in

a school ,country or international context, each student union will campaign in

favor of its own outlook or agitate to receive its entitlement .therefore, sometimes

student unions can be in competition with each other.

Different groups for their further interests or purposes that vary .and then,

different groups can form various student unions.in underdeveloped countries

,students unions are always biased towards national politics because of their

socio-economical and over all social conditions

(altbach1993,glazer,1968,Hamilton,1968)

In the case of Pakistan Bangladesh, Hanna (2000) believes that student politics

ought to be associated with the national politics. But authors such as attach,

Ross, david, glazer, Hamilton, mar, Emerson, myhr, and Ottawa believe that

students involvement in ,party politics, has created political atmosphere in higher

educational institutes in most countries and that has an impact on the

educational atmosphere.

In this context ,Hamilton(19680) states ,the extensive involvement of the student

moment with parties politics in Venezuela makes it exceedingly difficult towards a


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boundary line between indigenous and outside elements in the movement or

between a trained communist agitator and ordinary students leaders .most

students would not object strongly even to the presence n campus of a politician

with no pretensions of student status .for the simple reason that student leaders

are expected to be in contact with the machinery and authorities of the party they

represent

On the other hand, some students involved in party politics, would agree with the

views expressed by Jaime. Jaime rejected the view that student organizations

should be concerned only with student issues such as financial aid and

housing, and denied the charge that student political groups were merely party

tools .he also disagreed with those who believed students could never be

politically relevant (glazer, 1968).in politics leader and leadership play great role

where the students cannot fulfill the responsibilities and need of the environment

.they themselves in a stage of grooming.

Leader and leadership:

Leader: A leader is person who influences a group of people towards the

achievement of a goal. A mnemonic for this definition would be 3ps. person,

people, and purpose as illustrated by the following diagram.


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Person: is leadership a position of office or authority? Or is leadership ability in

the sense that he is a leader because he leads? We all may know or hear of

people who are in positions of leadership but who are not providing leadership. A

position of office is no guarantee of leadership but it helps in the sense that a

leadership position usually commands a listening ear from its people and that is

a good starting point for anyone who desires to be a leader. A leader by its

meaning is one who goes first and leads by example, so that others are motivated

to follow him. This is a basic requirement. To be the leader, a person must have a

deep-rooted commitment to the goal that he will strive to achieve it even if

nobody fellows him.

Purpose:

A requirement for leadership is personal vision .the ability to visualize your goal

as an accomplished fact, a thing already achieved.

The very essence of leadership is that you have vision .you cant blow an

uncertain trumpet. (Theodore m.hesburgh Wall Street

newspaper writer. August 19, 2001)

How do you become a leader with a purpose? You need guidance (pro3;5-6) and

you will get it through meditation on the word of GOD .


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The next requirement is the realize canton that the goal cannot be achieved alone,

without the help of others. Is there a natural grouping of people from whom you

can elicit help? Or do you have to recruit your followers? In the later, you face a

greater challenge. But whatever the situation, the leader must integrate his (or the

organizations) goal with his followers personal goal and then communicates this

goal in such a way that they embrace it too and the goal become a common goal.

In communicating your goal, bear in mind that it should meet the following

criteria.

Achieving--------------------------------realistic yet faith stretching.

Inspiring------------------------- challenging your people to give of their best.

Measurable------------------------quantifiable.

Shared ------------------------- declaring you conviction in and commitment to the

goal.

People:

To be a leader, one must have followers.to have followers, one must have their

trust. How do you win their trust? Why world others you? Most important, are you

worthy of their trust? Why are some individuals more effective than others at

influencing people?

Effectiveness in leadership has been attributed to 1) personation skill.2)

leadership styles and 3) personal attributes of the leader.


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The leader has to be practical and a realist. Yet must talk the language of the

visionary and the idealist (ERIE HOFFER)

he who thinned he leaded and bath no one following him is only talking a walk

(anonymous) (ALAN, S GLEANINGS) July 2007

Leadership:

Leadership has been described as the process of social influence in which one

person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a

common task

Alan keith of Genentech states that leadership is ultimately about creating a way

for people to contribute to make something extraordinary happens.

Leadership is both a process and a property .as a process: leader involves the

non-coercive influence.as a property, leadership is the set of characteristics

attributed to someone who is perceived to use influence

successfully.(MOORHEAD AND GRIFFIN, 1998; 352)

I would like to start by saying that despite numerous definitions leader is the

creative process of leading people, making them what perhaps they do not want

to do ,but do it with pleasure .leadership has numerous theories starting with the

theory of traits and behaviours and ending with the modern contingency theory

and the transformational approaches. GIULIANI, REDOLPH(2001)

LEADERSHIP,

MSGRAWHILL.


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What is leadership and how do we recognize. Or practice, good leadership?

Leaders come in different sizes and shapes. Some are formal and some informal

.some become leaders because of their age, wisdom or experience.

Common for all of them is that they practice a combination of different leadership

styles. Make your actions become habits. Your credibility as a leader depends

much on your actions and your interactions with people around you.


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Students unrest has been ever present in the long history of higher education.

From the founding of Plato, s academy in 357B.C. students has expressed their

displeasure by protest.

W.H COWLEY, the late David jacks professor of higher education at stand ford, states

that events as early as the fourth century A.D. can be used to illustrate this point. He

writes that students who disapproved of their professions, politics invaded their lecture

rooms and started fights, threw mud in their faces on the streets, and dragged them out


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of bed to dunk them in any available body of water. (Cowley 1966,) NAN Katharine

Harrington, Ph.D. (university of Texas at Austin, 2003.

Definition of activism:

According to Cambridge dictionaries activism means the use of direct and noticeable

action to achieve a result, usually a political or social one

OR

ACCORDING TO WORDIQ,

Activism is a general sense, can be described as involvement in action to bring about

change, be it social, political, environmental, or other change. This action is in support

of or opposition to one side of a controversial argument.in contemporary use, activism

tends to be a word associated with the actions and ideologies, of those on the political

left. However, the activism industry includes organizations of many orientations.

According to answers.com:

Activism means the use of direct, often confrontational action, such as demonstration or

strike, in opposition to or support of a cause, from writing letters to newspaper or

politicians, political camping, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially

patronizing businesses, rallies, street marches, strikes, sit-in and hunger strike.

History of student activism:


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Germany:

Starting ------- 1815 in Jena (Germany)urburschenschaft was found .that was student

organization that concentrated on national and democratic ideas.

Eastern Europe and post-soviet union states:

In 1956 Hungarian student revolution was started.

Australia: in 1987 NUS (national union student) was started after the collapse of its

predecessor.

France: May 1968 university of Paris started student union due the problem between

students and administration.

China: in 1856 in second opium war student activism played significant role in the

removal of this curse.

Indonesia: in 1928 youth pledge gave a voice to anti-colonial sentiments.

Iran: In 1979 students started protest against secular monarchy.

United states: the best early historical documentation comes from the 1930s.(the

American youth congress)was student led organization in Washington .

United Kingdom: since 1880s, with the formation of the student representative councils,

precursors of union organizations designed to present students interests.


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(Writer of Wikipedia, jimmy walves)

Student activism in politics:

The most distressing problem faced by our educational system is the deteriorating

standard of education .it is generally believed that the students involvement in politics,

and nature of Pakistani student political situation prevalent in the country adversely

effects the educational environment ,and helps block the health pursuit of knowledge

.this tendency possesses a real threat to the future of your younger generation. The

students being the future leaders need greater effort to educate and equip themselves

with knowledge and techniques of handling diverse and complex problems, political,

social and technical. There early involvement into party politics and intricate power

game does not only deprive them of building that acuemanship which is essential for

their future but also introduces a kind of premature party bias in the

History of student politics in indo- Pakistan

After winning the 1935 elections, the congress started their campaign to suppress the

Muslims. This realized many Muslim leaders to create a sense of identity amongst the

Muslims. Where bahadur yar jang, raja shahab Mahmoudabad, maulana shabir

ahmadah usmani, they wrote articles in several magazines to foster support for

Pakistan.in 1940 the resolution of Pakistan got momentum then Aligarh university

encouraged its students to participate in the struggle for independence .the founder of


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Pakistan moment QUAID-E-AZAM came to Aligarh university for the first time in 1940

and would visit almost every year. Due to its definite and peculiar characteristics the

Aligarh University provided a ready-made trained crop of workers to help spread the

message of QUAIDS message.

No one can ignore and hide the role of female students of Aligarh in the Pakistan

moment. They not only attended the QUAID E-AZAM public addresses (jalsas) in

purdah but they also wrote articles in womens magazines encouraged people to join

the Pakistan moment. The womens role can be highlighted by the fact that the first vice

chancellor of Aligarh university, nawab sultan jehan of Bhopal, bi amma (mother of

Muhammad ali) and Muhammad alis wife also played their role.

Many students set aside their studies to work for Pakistan. They went to Sindh.to

Punjab, to Khyber pakhtunkhwa to take part in the election campaign.

The Quaid told the students that they should not worry about the loss of an academic

year or two as they were dedicating that time towards the great cause of making a

nation.

Dawn news

By engr. Muhammad zakir Ali khan

General Secretary Aligarh Muslim university old boys

Association of Pakistan talked to Sunday images

On sugust7, 2011.


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Student involvement in party politics after independence:

As politics is one of the main institutions in the development of any nation. The politics

have played great role in the development of developed nations .students are the

pillars of any nation who plays great role in the country development .history tells us that

students have played great role contribution in Pakistan moment .besides their studies

the students were participating actively in politics .

These were the students who made possible the creation of Pakistan.no doubt both

male and female students played roles in the creation of Pakistan. E.g. doctor allama

Muhammad iqbal, jouher brothers, fatma Jinnah.

They worked day and night for noble cause and they got Pakistan. But now that cause

has finished .now a days we look that students have still political activities. The students

are involved in different political parties and federation. The students political activities

in the independence moment was the creation of Pakistan but,

Today the students at college and university level run political activities in order to

strengthen the image of political parties.

These political leaders put them on wrong track.


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After independence the following students federation started their activities.

1) Muslim student federation (msf):

Formed; 1940 pick years: 1947-50, 1989-97

Ideology: populist (1960), conservative (1970s-1980s)

2) Democratic student federation (dsf)

Formed: 1948, peak years: 1950-57

Ideology: Marxist- Leninist (1950s, 60s, 70s)

3) islami- Jami at taleba (IJT)

Formed: 1949, peak years: 1977-1996)

Ideology: Islamist (1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s)

4) National student federation (NSF)

Formed: 1956, peak years (1960-79)

Ideology: Marxist (1960s-70s) progressive (1980s, 90,2000s)

5) People student federation (psf)

Formed: 1972, peak years: 1977-1996

Ideology: socialist (1970s, 80s)

6) All Pakistan muttahida students organization (APMSO)


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Formed: 1978, peak years: 1988,

Ideology: ethnic-socialist (1970), militant-ethnic (1980s, 90s)

7) Baloch student organization (bso)

Formed: 1967, peak years: 1972-86,

Ideology

Marxist (1960s)

8) Pushton student organization (pso)

Formed: 1970,

Ideology: nationalist-Marxist (1970s-80s)

Nationalist (2000s)

9) Punjabi students association (psa)

Formed: 1973, ideology: conservative (1980s-90s)

10) Imamia student organization (iso)

Formed: 1972, ideology: conservative (1970s)

Shia-islamist (1980s, 90s, 2000s)

11) anjuma-e-taleba-islam (ati)

Formed: 1969, peak years, 1975-87


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Ideology: conservative-islamist (1970s) sectarian (1980s, 90s)

12) jeay Sindh student federation (jssf)

Formed: 1973, ideology, 1970s, militant-ethnic (80s, 90s)

13) Insaf student federation (isf)

Formed: 2007, ideology, populist, conservative

14) Punjabi progressive students alliance (psa)

Formed: 1977, dissolved, 1987.ideology, progressive/socialist

15) united student moment (usm)

Formed: 198o. Dissolved: 1987

Member parties:

National student federation, democratic student federation, people students federation,

all Pakistan mohajir student organization, Baloch student organization.

These are the federations and organizations but let see what they have done.

Pakistan came into being the process of decolonization, when the Muslims of

subcontinent realize that they need their lives according to the preaching of Islam and

decide their own prospect.

This movement was named as the movement of Pakistan and was backed by

supporters of the TWO NATION THEORY.as a result of this movement Muslims of all

India were gathered on a platform and the only representative confederation of Muslims


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takes place ,names ALL INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE. This league was formed on 30

December, 1906 under the supervision nawab wiqar-ul-mulk.when Pakistan was

created their rulers have the choice to choose any system of governance, but they

opted for the democratic system. Shocking events that Pakistan faced in its early age

were the death of MUHAMMAD ALI JINNAH in 1948 and assassination of liaquat ali

khan in 1951,have influence its succeeding years . although democracy was selected

by the leaders but due these two shocking events made the democratic system weak,

and league began to disintegrate and all India Muslim league, for the first time ,was

divided in December 1947 into two factions, the Pakistan Muslim league (PML) and the

India union Muslim league (cesar,1970).unfortunately military dictatorship took over the

control after the failure of democracy which creates a tense environment among the

people ,and cause Muslim league to further disintegration . To sought out the problem

and bring democracy back on track in 1967, zulfiqar ali Bhutto formed a new political

party by the name Pakistan peoples party (PPP).

Now a day PML (Nawaz) and pppp (PAKISTAN PEOPLE,S PARTY PARLIMENTARIAN

)

Are the major parties of Pakistan? They still have to make a coalition with other minor

parties to form governments. These minor parties are muttahida qaumi movement,

awami national party, muttahida majlis e-amal Pakistan, jamiat ulama-e-islam,etc(wiki)

. as Pakistan was created under two nation theory and it was needed to transfer this

ideology to young generation so a strong education system was required. After the

independence of Pakistan several attempts were made regarding the education system

to support this ideology and convey it to the new generation ,the basic idea was


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provided by the front line leaders of that time seminar ,( 30th June till 3rd July ,2003) .t

but later on individual relating to the universities such as students ,faculty members, and

administrative personals were often affiliated with different political parties. Depending

upon their view point. These affiliation with political parties, divide the individuals into

several clusters and the politicans exert external pressure on the administration to

influence the decisions of universities (BALDRIGE 1977). This idea was further

explained by Cohen teal (1874) he mentioned that the politicians made educational

policies according to their own interest and they bent their educational system according

to the political policies. This idea appears to provide the foundation for political pressure

on the dealings of higher education and announcements. Due to the affiliation of

personals with the political parties different students federations formed in the

educational institutes. But according to several authors political influence at the

educational institutes is an opposing idea. They believe that this influence depends on

country and time (KOGAN, 1984; KAROL and GINSBURG 1980; RADOLPH and

RUDOLPH.1972; MASSIALAS, 1969). In most of the developing countries the

politicians take benefits from these disputes and they organize the students and staff

members to attain their political goals. Politicians try capture the idea of educationist

because they want to power over minds, talents, and progressive opinion over the

people (MACKINNON,1965). As Pakistan stands amongst the developing countries

same is the situation in Pakistan where pressure groups were required in educational

institutions to streamline the activities and to have some control over the institutions. It

was because of these reasons that leaders of different parties launched their respective

students federation .this political influence in educational institutes affects the academic


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activities, which has a direct effect on the future of the students who suffer all the time

due to these involvement.

In Pakistan the history of students federation can be traced back to the early timings of

the creation of Pakistan.

Muslim student federation was formed in 1947. This movement was launch by the

students of engineering college Karachi for the purpose of providing better education.

Later on in 1948 a small a small union was formed the name democratic students

federation in Lahore.

Islami jamiat tulaba starts functioning in 1948 and the basic purpose was to spread the

teachings of Islam and to summon gathering in mosque. The pukhton students

federation steered in early in 1970,s by the leaders of awami national party to enlighten

the culture of pushton society among the students. The peoples students federation was

very much successful against ZIA, S administration in 1985-1986.some other students

are given in table 03. As mentioned earlier that university faculty members are

associated with the political federations due to which the main objectives of education

were not retrained in Pakistan. But still some optimistic people are in favor of the

political involvement in the university administration.

They have the view that political control can grow the administration of these institutions

and can help in achieving their objectives (Livingstone, 1974) but these activities

affiliations and activities waste the time of students and cause anxiety among them.


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Anxiety is a mental and emotional status classified by cognitive and behavioral

mechanism. These components organize together and create very unlikable and

horrible situations for individuals. Pakistanis education system faces very harsh

conditions regarding the quality and the relevance to the needs of the country.

According to the federal bureau of statistic, 2005, 20nmillion children of the age that

they should be enrolled in the school are working for the livelihood and are not enrolled

in the school, while 50% of the remaining are drop out by class 5 th.

The students that are enrolled n education institutes have to memorize the stuff and

materials provided in the textbooks, rather than thinking and reasoning in order to pass

the examination to be taken at the end of the year creating a state of anxiety amongst

the students.

Most of the time students are anxious about the schedule of examination and lack of

time for this memorization.

For this reason they hate all such activities which waste their time and does not take

part in co-curriculum activities, and avoid such gatherings in order to save time for their

study.

Student political violence in different university campuses:

Since 1948, some 200 students have been killed in student union violence. From 1947-

1982 some 13 students were killed in 151 violence incidents while from 1984-2004

some, 165 students were killed in 525 violent incidents.


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The history of students politics is rife with unions being hijacked by influential groups.

This has been main cause of students putting down their pens and picking up guns ,as

students workers and leaders ,under the influence of powerful. They are above the law

later with their violent deeds behind them; influential groups use these students as hit

men, land grabbers or even as a means to intimidate their rivals.

Many students who turned criminal has been killer in shootouts with the police, we

talked to several former students union leaders and workers to get an insight into the

world of student politics in Lahore.

These men have at one time or the other been part of Muslim student federation (MSF)

,people student federation (PSF) ,islami Jami at taleba(IJT) national student federation

(NSF),QUAID-E-AZAM student federation(QSF),and anjuma-e- taleba-e-islam(ATI) .

They said the lower tiers of student unions were the first to turn to violence. Violence hit

campuses in 1983 when several IJT workers kidnapped MAO college leaders khawaja

saad raifique and beat him up.

The incident led saad becoming influential is student politics and he won the union

election held on December 21, 1983 and the MSF took possession of MAO College.

This was the last election before student unions were banned because of campus

violence.

After the bane, these unions operated underground and the tussle between the MSF

and IJT increased and become more intense. Many students were killed, while many

others became criminals in the process. This is when a new breed of student

appeared.one who didnt go to college, but was affiliated with a student union and took


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part in its politics. This is also the time when students shifted from hockey sticks as their

favorite choice of weapon to a more sophisticated item, 30 pistols, rifles, shotguns and

machineguns. Colleges and hostels become their hideouts.

Students involvement in politics and impact on national development in Pakistan:

Student politics is not self-directed.it is now working in collaboration with national

politics. Therefore, the impact of national politics and student politics in national

development are interrelated. Before elaborating this it is important to note that

education itself can play a significant role for national development (ND), so many

threats to education is a threat to national development.

Large number of students has been killed as a result of student politics since 1947.it is

very simple to understand that if students are frequently killed in situations of unrest

caused by student politics, the unrest doesnt remain confined to higher education (HE)

campuses but spreads throughout the country. Due to this panic situation the parents


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are not worried about their daughters going to school, colleges and universities but also

for their sons as well .because of fear of student leaders.

Such circumstances hinder not only the development of higher education but also of the

overall social freedom.

It is also seen that students who are involved I politics tend to travel without paying their

fair. They even like to impose, taxes, on transport owners .so fighting between transport

workers and students involved in politics is now a regular activity and it leads to

transport strikes for uncertain periods hampering of communication also hinders the

country usual activities.

GAZI MAHABUBUL ALAM

UNESCO center for comparative education research

University of Nottingham, NG8, IBB, UK

AND

MIRJA MUHAMMAD SHAHJAMAL,

RESEARCH AND EVALUATION DIVISIAON

BRAC

BRAC CENTER

75 mohakhali,Dhaka-1212 Bangladesh


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history of student politics

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