Patronage, Populism, and Protest: Student Politics in Pakistani Punjab

Despite the over three decades of repression in Pakistan under the regimes of General Zia-ul-Haq and General Musharraf Student, student politics began its revival with the emergence of student-led activist groups during the anti-Musharraf movement of 2007. While formal student “unions” remain banned in the country, student and “youth” collectives aligned with various political parties have started to play an increasingly visible and vocal role in everyday politics and mobilization. This paper seeks to contrast three of the main student organizations currently operating in Punjab, namely the PML-N Youth Wing (PYW), the PTI’s Insaf Student Federation (ISF), and the left-wing Democratic Students Alliance (DSA). By focusing on the broader social and political context, characterized by state repression and systematic efforts to undermine student politics, in which these organizations operate, this paper argues that efforts by mainstream political parties to cultivate support amongst young people today reinforce patterns of political engagement and contestation that perpetuate the depoliticization of Pakistan’s students and further entrench the country’s framework of centralized patronage politics. This is particularly true for the PYW, whose approach works to incorporate students within the workings of its parent party, and the ISF, whose populist appeals have, over time, given way to a pragmatic politics bearing considerable resemblance to that of the PYW. The exception here is the DSA, an avowedly progressive and radical organization that remains committed to activism, but whose impact is limited by the constraints imposed by the wider political framework.