Information on whether political parties are represented on college student union boards [PAK13997]

A specialist in Pakistani politics at Queen's University in Kingston said that the political parties are involved in a general way in student organizations and unions in order to gain the support of the students (28 Apr. 1993). According to the source the main reason for the involvement of the political parties is that they want to use the students for their national political objectives.

A source at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington D.C. corroborated the above information on party-student links on Pakistan's campuses (28 Apr. 1993). As a result of this involvement in student politics, political parties have also become involved in the student unions (Ibid.). Student unions and parties control the situation on some campuses (Ibid.). Official attempts to break up this link between political parties and the students have been made by outlawing the unions, but such actions so far have been unsuccessful (Ibid.). Officials have also tried to remove the direct influence of the parties on campuses, but this objective also has not been achieved (Ibid.).

Additional and/or corroborative information on the requested subject could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB in Ottawa.

References


Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington. 28 April 1993. Telephone interview with the source.

Specialist in Pakistani Politics, Queen's University, Kingston. 28 April 1993. Telephone interview.

The Xinhua General Overseas News Service. 21 November 1992. "Opposition Demonstrations Continue in Pakistan." (NEXIS)

Attachments

Angel, William D. 1990. Youth Movements of the World. London: Longman Group UK Ltd.

The Xinhua General Overseas News Service. 21 November 1992. "Opposition Demonstrations Continue in Pakistan." (NEXIS)