Student Protestors barred from reaching Parliament

(Courtesy The Nation)
ISLAMABAD-Dozens of students of different universities and colleges of Capital City tried to march towards the Parliament House on Monday to protest against the imposition of emergency but they were stopped by police personnel to reach the destined value.The students, however, said that they managed to register their protest peacefully against the ongoing state of emergency and suspension of fundamental rights despite the use of police force to stop them from marching towards the parliament. Representing different universities and colleges of the federal capital including Quaid-e-Azam University, International Islamic University Islamabad, Bahria University and West Minister’s College, the students gathered near the Saudi Pak Tower. They started marching on the Service Road and tried to go to the Parliament House. But the security officials reached there on time and stopped them forcing them to disperse peacefully. Later, the students, without raising any anti-government or anti- Musharraf slogans staged a sit-in in front of Mohammed Ali Jinnah University located in the Blue Area. They were holding placards inscribed with slogans like “Bol kay Lab Azaad Hain Taray” and “we want democracy”.The students demanded of the political parties to boycott the upcoming elections that according to them should not be held under the state of emergency. They said the society has been intentionally depoliticised and students have no unions or any other platform at their educational institutions to express themselves. “We want democracy in the country, we want media to be freed. We believe that the media is a great source of knowledge and information for us” said a charged student, Tariq. He said, “We don’t want to create any mess, we just want to show the world that we can register our protest peacefully.” The students said they were being threatened by the administration to expel from the universities and the colleges and would not be able to get admission further in any educational institution forever.“Our phones are being tapped by the authorities. But it could not deter our struggle, which we are planning to launch on a grand scale. We have formed a Student Action Committee in which the students will represent all the educational institutions. This committee will start a massive protest across the country,” another student, Ahsan told TheNation.

Missing in Pakistan - Documentary

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