Balochistan: Students protest against discriminatory policies of Bahaudin Zakaria University

QUETTA: Students from the platform of Baloch Students Council (BSC) have been on strike for 23 consecutive days against Bahaudin Zakaria University’s (in Punjab) discriminatory policies against Baloch students.

Hundreds of students participated in a protest on Wednesday in Multan to demand issuance of quota scholarships to Baloch students in Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur in all departments of Bahauddin Zakaria University Multan, collection of fees on reserved seats in Balochistan and termination of scholarships of students from Balochistan.

The chairman of Baloch Students Council Waqar Baloch said all the discriminatory policies against Baloch students are taking place at a time a Baloch, Usman Buzdar is the CM of Punjab.

“We thought that now our days of sorrows are over. Unfortunately, during Sardar [Usman Buzdar’s] rule Bahauddin Zakaria University Multan abolished seats of Balochistan on open merit. At that time Chief Minister Usman Bazdar wrote a letter to the university but the varsity did not deem itself obliged to reply to CM’s letter. This means the open merit seats for Balochistan will be abolished and our number in the university has already halved,” he added.

He said that now the university has ended the scholarship on reserved seats. ‘We approached the Chief Minister of Balochistan and CM of Punjab they have not given us any assurance of support.’

He said that the university administration has also shown no flexibility in this regard and due to the irresponsible behavior of the university administration students have been protesting on the streets for 23 days, The authorities have not taken notice of their protest yet nor have they asked the university administration about their policies.  

He called on the government to look into ‘our problem on an urgent basis and help us bring it to fruition as it is a question of the future of our students and the golden dreams of our new students.’

Meanwhile, Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadith leader Sajid Mir and district leaders of Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadith participated in the protest.

 Speaking to the protesters, Sajid Mir, leader of Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadith, said, “I demand the government to lift the ban on student unions, restore scholarships for students in Balochistan and accept all the demands of these students.”

Meanwhile, Ismatullah Khan demanded the government to accept their demands and hold talks with them so that their problems can be resolved.

Speaking on the occasion, Muzammil Khan said that both Balochistan and FATA are backward and there is a lack of educational institutions. Therefore, we demand the government to take urgent steps to address this issue and consider alternative modalities.

Nadeem Pasha Advocate Organizer Pakistan Trade Union Defense Campaign Multan said that free access to education in Pakistan should have been for every citizen which was possible in the past due to student movements in Pakistan but unfortunately by banning the student unions they have turned educational institutions into money-making factories. They have been doing this [business in the name of education] successfully till now, he said.

He saluted the struggle of the Baloch students and vowed that they will continue to fight for the rights of the students along with them.

He demanded the government to resolve the issue of fees for their reserved seats as soon as possible so that their new students could enjoy the blessings of education.

He appealed to the political and social organizations of the country especially the student organizations to support Baloch students’ struggle and to hold rallies, protests and symbolic hunger strikes across Pakistan to show solidarity with the protesting students so that the government takes action to resolve their problems.

The government so far failed the address the students’ issues, however, a committee has been formed by the University but it is yet to be seen if they can do anything to resolved the issues of students.