Politics is both science and art of running the government. The two forms of government are Democracy and Dictatorship. In a democracy, the elected representatives of the people run the government. They are called politicians. The other is authoritative from of government. There is no or little individual freedom is a dictatorship. People enjoy civil freedoms in a democracy. Democracy is a function of education. If the people are uneducated, democracy flops and becomes a farce. This is the case in Pakistan.
Politics and studentship are two different things. The first and foremost duty of students is the acquirement of knowledge. Learning demands peace and discipline, devotion and dedication. Politics pampers the students, the youths. Misuse of freedom results in disobedience, indiscipline and lawlessness. The bad results are before us all.
Students and politics has become a burning topic. Students have become more political minded. They are more noisy for their rights and careless about their duties. As we hear; ‘Don’t play politics’. Politics is a dirty game: Politics is waste of time! Like the word ‘clever’, ‘politics’ has both positive and negative meanings. In our country it is a negative process. There is no honesty, no discipline, no sense of brotherhood. As we see there is a tug-of-war between relevancy and acceptability, truth and convenience in socio-political field. Quaid-e-Azam the great intellectual wizard and statesman has advised the students to keep away from politics. To quote; [the_ad id=”17141″]
“Your first duty to yourself, to the parents and to your nation, is to acquire education whole- heatedly, without any involvement”.
These wise words have fallen on deaf ears. Most of the political and religious parties have their students branches in colleges and university. The tender minds are spoiled from school days by the student leaders. When they step into colleges, they become more active and violent. Students are directed and guided by the so-called student leaders and not be their teachers. They develop a mass mentality and dictate the authorities. Students leaders and their blind followers, insult the teachers and even occupy the principal’s office.
Politics is an infectious disease; for the students receive instructions from outside. They neglect their studies, discard the classes and run wild. The student’s unions are political factions. They have become hotbeds of dirty politics, houses of hostilities, regional rivalries, slogan-mongering, election campaigning, and rowdism. Politics without ethics is a foul game. National interests are sacrificed for personal and party interests. The students boldly indulge in violence, lawlessness and unfair practices in the examinations.
Students of today are the citizens of tomorrow. The indiscipline and indecency are seen in our social life. Students political factions cut at the very roots of national unity. Those who favor students’ participation is politics are over democratic or selfish for cheap popularity. The best advice for the students is to follow the middle course. They must shun everything that interferes with their studies and brings bad name for themselves and their colleagues. This is the lesson given by the lives of great statesmen and politicians.