Students, activists, and supporters have taken to the streets across Pakistan to record their protest under ‘Students Solidarity March.’ For an avid social media user, the #StudentsSolidarityMarch won’t be a new thing, as it is currently trending hot on Twitter and Facebook. But, not all of us are aware of its backgrounder. Read on to know what is the Students Solidarity March and why & where is it happening?
The issued started to heat up when last week, a video of a group of students went viral.
In the video, a woman student can be seen chanting the slogan, “Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna Ab Hamare Dil Mein Hai.” The footage was reportedly from Lahore, and the participants were members of the Progressive Students’ Collective (PSC), the organizers of this whole event.
In Pakistan, there are nearly 25 active student organizations; 15 of them are in Karachi alone. Over time, these organizations have taken to the streets for their particular demands, but these individual and fragmented movements don’t often yield desired results. To make these demonstrations more effective, these organizations have been united under the banner of the ‘Students Action Committee.’
When Is It Happening?
Under this banner, these organizations are carrying out rallies on the regional level on Friday (today). As per a tweet, PSC’s official Twitter handle, demonstrations are being staged in 50 cities across the country.
Twitter is filled with demonstrations videos and photos from all major cities of Pakistan, some of them are as under:
Islamabad.
Lahore.
Karachi.
Hyderabad.
Peshawar.
Mansehra.
Quetta
Why Is It Happening?
While each rally raised voice on their local issues, primary demands remain the same. The Student Action Committee has released a 10-point Charter of Demand, which has been listed below:
This is not the first time such an event has been organized in the country. But, the momentum and the media coverage this year’s march has received is unprecedented.
Not only did it find space in the headlines, political bigwigs like Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also threw weight behind this mega students’ movement.
Here is what Bilawal said:
While this solidarity march is yet to take any shape in the recent political scenario of the country, the political commentators are seeing it as a next big challenge for the incumbent government in the days to come.