In the context of spring, Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s quote “New accounts have been opened with a new reckoning” resonates as some friends have revived the National Students Federation ($ group). As left-wing individuals, we reject being labeled as fatwa-selling mullahs, excluding Mushtaq Choudhary and the Dollar group from Marxism. We confess our past actions and hope for unity with the Neo Dollars or the second faction of the National Students Federation.
\nIn 1985,\u00a0during\u00a0Zia-ul-Haq’s regime, we sought democracy under the Junijo Brand, but faced opposition from authorities like Hafiz Jamal, leading to our expulsion from Khanewal Degree\u00a0College.
\nAfter gaining\u00a0admission to Emerson College Multan on open merit, we initially decided to stay away from\u00a0student politics. However, a sticker of the NSF on our\u00a0college diary led to a\u00a0clash with\u00a0Islami Jamiat Talaba students,\u00a0prompting us to join the NSF. Aasim Ali Shah, a dedicated worker of the NSF, played a key role in organizing the Study Circle at Emerson College and expanding\u00a0the organization’s presence in Multan. Under his guidance, the NSF grew rapidly, culminating in the election of Masood Sarwar Gondal as the president of Multan.
\nAasim Ali Shah’s\u00a0commitment to\u00a0ideological unity within the organization\u00a0was evident during a visit by the central president of the NSF, Safdar Rashid. The visit highlighted\u00a0the importance of maintaining unity and thwarting attempts at group formation within the organization, as exemplified by the failed efforts of Salahuddin Gandapur. Today, the legacy of dedicated NSF workers like Mushtaq Choudhry and Aasim Ali Shah continues to be remembered, while those who sought to divide the organization have faded into obscurity.
\nDuring this time, we met with\u00a0lawyers\u00a0Qamar-ul-Zaman Butt and Mahmood Nawaz Babar\u00a0from Multan. The activities of the NSF led by Aasim Ali Shah, in collaboration with these individuals, reached a significant point. One notable incident involved a confrontation with a professor, Javed Paracha, over student activitiess related to the uprising in Bangladesh.\u00a0Aasim Shah and his comorades successfully protested against the professor’s actions, leading to\u00a0Aasim Shah’s reinstatance.\u00a0This event inspired us to realize the power of unity and adherence to correct principles in achieving success.
\nDuring\u00a0Ghulam Hyder Wyne’s tenure as\u00a0Chief Minister of Punjab and Syed Fakhr Imam’s term as\u00a0Minister of Education,\u00a0educational institution\u00a0fees were raised. Aasim Ali Shah’s absence did not deter\u00a0students\u00a0in Multan from protesting the fee hike. Handwritten posters with the message\u00a0“Challenge the oppression. Victory will be yours”\u00a0were distributed\u00a0across\u00a0educational institutions\u00a0in\u00a0Multan.
\nStudents in Multan\u00a0threatened to block the entry of the Chief Minister and Minister of Education into Khanewal if the fee increase was not reversed. On November 13, students were arrested, including us. The government invited us for negotiations at the Circuit House in Khanewal, where we represented the students. After intense negotiations,
\nthe Deputy Commissioner of Khanewal offered to roll back half of the fee increase. We refused to back down and insisted that\u00a0the\u00a0officials stay at\u00a0the Circuit House until our demands\u00a0were met. Mushtaq Choudhry and Aasim Ali Shah’s influence and guidance played a significant role in our determination and tone during the negotiations.
\nDespite Aasim Ali Shah’s physical absence, his words inspired and guided us. Our firm stance led to\u00a0the government\u00a0accepting\u00a0our demands\u00a0promptly. Aasim Ali Shah’s impact on the students’ movement\u00a0was evident, even in his absence.
\nSometimes our thoughts and ego can lead us to make decisions that we later regret. The National Students Federation (NSF)\u00a0was expanding its reach under the leadership of Mushhtaq Couhdhry and Asim Ali Shah,\u00a0with new\u00a0units\u00a0opening in various cities. However, some opportunistic individuals were opposed to the spread of Marxist theories among workers and farmers. Two lawyers, Mahmood Nawaz Babar and Qamar-ul-Zaman Butt, who were once supportive of the red revolution, later aligned themselves with the class against which NSF was fighting. In 1990,
\nAsim Ali Shah\u00a0was\u00a0recommended for the position of Central General Secretary at a council session in Karachi. However,
\nbefore the closed session, Qamar\u00a0-ul-Zaman Butt and Masood Sarwar Gondal accused Asim Ali Shah of being a CIA agent without providing evidence. As a result, the session was boycotted, leading to organizational discipline violations\u00a0and\u00a0subsequent dismissals.
\nDespite these challenges,\u00a0the work\u00a0of NSF\u00a0continued, but our influence\u00a0among\u00a0workers\u00a0and students\u00a0declined. Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba capitalized\u00a0on\u00a0this, spreading extremism against us. Our ideological leadership shifted to Qamar-ul-Zaman Butt, and we found ourselves marginalized within the organization.
\nMasood Gondal was suspected of\u00a0illegal activities, prompting agencies to take notice. An IB officer\u00a0named Ishfaq\u00a0visited my office and questioned me about Gondal. Despite a\u00a0thorough investigation, I\u00a0was\u00a0not arrested but asked to appear at the IB office the next day. We complied and provided evidence of our innocence, leading to the disbandment of the NSF Gondal Group in Multan. Subsequently, the NSF presence in Multan vanished, including its spread in Dera Ghazi Khan under Aasim Shah’s leadership.
\nI expect the organization to maintain discipline while allowing critics the opportunity to contribute to history. Just as we recognize our comrades as writers today, we should acknowledge their roles as the only team to\u00a0serve them\u00a0as\u00a0Central Secretary Generals of NSF Pakistan. Otherwise, the self-centered actions of these individuals will only benefit themselves, leaving others to write\u00a0confessional notes\u00a0years later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the context of spring, Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s quote “New accounts have been opened with a new reckoning” resonates as some friends have revived the National Students Federation ($ group). As left-wing individuals, we reject being labeled as fatwa-selling mullahs, excluding Mushtaq Choudhary and the Dollar group from Marxism. We confess our past actions and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140,2],"tags":[156],"class_list":["post-5176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-analysis","category-example-1","tag-nsf"],"yoast_head":"\n