LAHORE: Several student organisations Friday hailed the decision of the apex court in the Panama Papers case and said that the process of accountability should not be restricted to a single party or its head honcho.
Talking to Daily Times, representatives of the Insaf Student Federation (ISF), a sister organisation of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) and Progressive Students Collective demanded the incoming prime minister to lift the ban on student unions, which they said was the main reason behind the dearth of political leadership in the country. Terming student unions “nurseries” for future politicians of the country, they said that the next prime minister should restore student unions to fill the gap. ISF Punjab Information Secretary Abdul Monim Tariq Lodhi said that the decision would be remembered for centuries. He said that the decision would have a far-reaching impact on political acumen of the youth. “This is what the PTI and ISF have been working for. The youth should take a stance against corruption,” he said. He, however, said that all those named in the Panama Papers should be held accountable without any discrimination.
Progressive Students Collective (PSC) Coordinator Haider Kaleem said that the decision of the Supreme Court would repose the confidence of the people in state institutions. He said that things would never change unless a common man did not enter the power corridors.
“Even the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif will be beneficial for some political parties rather than the general public, which is facing a myriad of problems,” he said, adding that things would remain unchanged until you have new faces in parliament. IJT Punjab University head Usama Ijaz said that the decision of apex court had proved that there was lack of proper leadership in the country.
Published in Daily Times, July 29th , 2017.
