#Pakistan - #Baluchistan - Closing the doors of education

 By Mannan Samad

The students of Balochistan have long been beset by the egregious circle of violence, ruthlessness, persecution, exploitation, intimidation entailing unfathomable pain and anguish triggered via various angles which remains unabated so far. Students are regarded as the future builders of any nation. They are the valuable assets of the nation who are overwhelmingly contributing for the progress and advancement of the country but the despicable maneuvering to push students to the wall is highly lamentable, unacceptable and condemnable. It is very frustrating to jot down that students, in this hapless province, seem more on roads than academic boundaries. They are perpetually engrossed in staging protest demonstrations to seek acceptance of their demands instead of being engrossed in their studies.

There is no iota of doubt that it is a planned and organized conspiracy of unidentified or identified plotters to close the doors of education by inducting gruesome tactics after every passing day. The entanglement of students, in protests, lurking from one problem to another problem, is, no doubt, a glaring manifestation of putting students away from the essence of education. The anti-education elements know if they (students) acquire education, they (students) witness stumbling blocks on the way of materializing their nefarious designs.The University of Balochistan blackmailing scandal leaves no ambiguities to corroborate my aforementioned notions. The scandal largely parked hue and cry in societal spheres, political circles and education boundaries in which students particularly female students were allegedly blackmailed and harassed by the security officials and vercity faculty under the tutlage of Vice Chancellor in order to extort money, extinguish lust and restrict students in getting access to education.

On the one hand, the scandal left a visible stain on education system of the province, while on the other hand, it has massively bolstered the stereotype of confining girls and women within the boundry of home and mere monitor the domestic activities. The eruption of scandel came as a jolt for all conservative families of Balochistan, aftermaths, they (families) piled up pressures on concerned students to return home immediately and skip education in halfway. A number of students did alike as they were submissive at the behest of their families. This has directly affected the literacy proportion of women education. The plotters somewhat become victorious in closing the doors of education for female students in an already-educationally marginalized province.

After the very few days of vercity scandal, another mishap emerged out wherein the house offiers of Bolan University of Medical and Health Sciences (BUMHS) were forcibly ejected from their hostel. Assistant Commissioner (AC) Quetta Nida Kazmi was seen in a video who was misbehaving and threatening the female students of dire consequences, aftermaths, the video went viral on social media invoking a wave of anger and outrage on behalf of public. The Governor and Chief Secretary neither took notice of force ejection of female doctors nor they issued directives regarding new hostel for postgraduate doctors which frankly domonstrates the sheer reluctance of promoting women’s education.

The students of BMC are now grappling with another issue which is drastically adding to their financial woes. The students and employees of BMC are protesting over the past several weeks against the privatization of the institute. The have been conducting peaceful sit-ins in order to meet their demands. They demand that Bolan Medical College (BMC) should be restored, BMC2017Act should be changed, the decision of hike fees should be reversed and University Vice-Chancellor should be sacked immediately. But it is very lamenting that around,128 students and employees of the veracity were arrested at GPO Chowk recently in Quetta through the hooliganism of police. Peaceful protesters were heading towards Balochistan assembly to stage a peaceful sit-in in front of assembly in favour of their demands when police launched a crackdown against the students but this shameful act couldn’t break their resolve for marching towards provincial assembly.

Embarrassingly, police also tried to arrest the female students. In a video, women were seen being humiliated and beaten up at the hands of police, went viral on social media which jolted the reputation and reverence of the Baloch society. The act of beating and humiliating women is flagrantly against the values and traditions of Baloch nation.

It is outrightly astounding that police misbehaved inappropriately with the peaceful protesters instead of provinding adequate security to them. On the one hand, police is considered a protective entity which is supposed to deliver safety to the ordinary folk, but on the other hand, it is promoting the culture of violence and prevailing an atmosphere of awe and trepidation.

The students of BMC are now grappling with another issue which is drastically adding to their financial woes. The students and employees of BMC are protesting over the past several weeks against the privatization of the institute

Resorting to violence is the emblem of immature democracies while suppressing the dissent voices reeks of directorial tactics. It is the constitutional right of every citizen to conduct peaceful protest demonstration. It must be noted that torturing the peaceful protesters is not a good omen in a democratic country. The vanguard role of students in the democratic struggles of the country should not be denied at any cost.

The Balochistan government is hell bent upon neglecting the serious issue of BMC privatization and tends to turn a deaf ear to the demands of concerned students. It seems oblivious in terms of addressing the genuine grievances of the students instead of the fact that, education is a provincial subject after the implementation of 18th amendment.

Time is ripe the incumbent government should wake up from its deep slumber to take stern action against the corrupt and incompetent administration in order to foil the hideous designs of privatizating BMC and restore the veracity which is the only ray of hope for the thousands of medical students of the province.