KARACHI - Pasban-e-Pakistan President Altaf Shakoor on Tuesday said that revival of students’ unions is necessary to provide the nation and country an alternative leadership and put Pakistan on the path of progress and prosperity.

Welcoming the Sindh Assembly for passing a resolution for lifting ban of the students’ unions, he said Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah himself knows the importance of student politics, as he was an active student leader during his education days at the NED University Karachi.

He congratulated the members of Sindh Assembly for raising this important issue and hoped that other assemblies would also follow suit.

He said it is undeniable fact that the student politics had provided valuable leaders to almost all political parties of Pakistan. He said in fact the student politics is a must for flourishing democracy that is why the dictatorial governments were always against allowing youths to take part is student politics. He said lifting ban on student politics is in the best interest of the nation and country.

Altaf Shakoor, who in past himself had served as president of the student union of the NED University, said due to no student unions in educational institutes, Pakistani students have gone divided into smaller regional, ethnic and linguistic groups instead of going to a broader national thinking. This most effective segment of our society is now unable to raise their strong voice on main national issues as there are no student unions in their educational institutions to debate discuss these issues. He said the burning issues like drone attacks and trafficking of Dr Aafia Siddiqui and her children did not find the needed focus because students’ unions were not present and hence the students could not raise their voice on these national issues.

However, he cautioned against excessive meddling of the mainstream political parties into the affairs of student politics. He said ideological leaning of students towards mainstream politics is a natural thing, but the manipulation of the student politics by power hungry politicians is not a welcome sign.

He said to make students a stronger force to defend the country and to defeat the elements that are spreading anarchy in Pakistan it is necessary that the culture of student politics should be reintroduced in Pakistani educational institutions and all stakeholders should play their due role in this regard.