Document #1129782
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
A 1982 report from Amnesty International
mentions the People's Student Federation (PSF) and states that it
supports the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). After elections in
November 1988, that party, led by Benazir Bhutto, gained a majority
in the Pakistani parliament, with Bhutto subsequently becoming
Prime Minister. [Amnesty International, Pakistan: Human rights
violations and the decline of the rule of law (London: Amnesty
International Publications, 1982), p. 22; U.S. Department of State,
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988
(Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989), p. 1461.]
Student groups have played a central role
in recent violence in the province of Sindh. In early February
1990, about 100 were reportedly kidnapped by student groups. The
Sindhi government accused the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) of
orchestrating the kidnappings and stated that the majority of those
abducted were supporters of the PPP. The MQM responded that
pro-Bhutto student groups were responsible. ["Student groups kidnap
100 in Karachi," The Globe and Mail, 5 February 1990, p.
A9.]
Please find attached a 1983 report that
also refers to the PSF. It remains unclear whether the PSF referred
to in the request, is the same group as the one mentioned in the
sources cited above.