Student Solidarity March on November 20, if the authorities do not change steps against the intermediate students across various cities in Punjab, students conference at Lahore Press Club.
The leaders of the Pashtun Council, the Progressive Students Collective, the Revolutionary Students Front, the People’s Students Federation, and the Progressive Students Forum condemned the government’s brutal reaction to rallies in Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujrat, and Rawalpindi. They also criticized the torture by security guards at Government University.
Several student organizations on Wednesday condemned the police crackdown on students after recent violent protests erupted in response to an alleged rape incident at a private college.
Leaders claimed that heavily armed security forces, including tear gas, baton charges, and aerial firing, were used against unarmed students, and even armored vehicles were deployed to disperse the protests. They also mentioned that hundreds of students, aged 15 to 17, were detained, and legal cases were filed against them.
According to student groups, these protests are a reaction to the oppressive policies of private college administrations, which have turned educational institutions into virtual prisons, subjecting students to psychological stress, threats, and excessively high fees, further fueling their frustration.
They demanded that students have a democratic say in decision-making at educational institutions and on anti-harassment committees.
The student organizations put forward a charter of demands, which includes forming anti-harassment committees at every institution with proper student representation, creating an independent commission to investigate harassment complaints and make the findings public, taking action against the police and security guards involved in torturing students at Private College, and the unconditional withdrawal of all charges and disciplinary actions against the protesting students.
