National Students Federation

National Students Federation (NSF) is a Left-wing students federation in Pakistan. Its predecessor DSF (Democratic Students Federation) with links to the Communist Party of Pakistan. It had power base among progressive students from Dow Medical and DJ Science Colleges. It had control over student politics in Karachi, the then Federal Capital of the country. In a convention at the national level of students, held in Khaliqdina Hall, Karachi(1953), DSF renamed itself to APSO (All Pakistan Students Organisation) laying claim to being a national movement and hoping to spread the student revolution to the whole country. Demonstrations and strikes had already paralysed the federal capital for several days. The government apparently gave in by sacrificing the federal minister of education, Mr Fazlur Rahman, hailing from the eastern wing. He was sacked from his post. It was not much of a victory for the students. APSO was banned and the leaders were thrown in Karachi Central Jail. NSF (The National Students Federation) a nationalist and right-wing group which had been propped up by the help of secret service to counter DSF's activities, was invaded practically overnight by the now banned DSF party members, who were still outside. The ex-DSFites had enough muscle and organisational skills to take over the control of NSF in 1965, thus its new "left" leaning profile emerged. Right from the start, DSF was infested with the presence of double agents/informers from the secret service.

NSF saw its first major split in 1965,between the so-called pro-China and pro-Moscow factions, better known as the NSF-Miraj Group and the NSF-Kazmi Group. While the NSF-Mairaj group supported the PPP, the NSF Kazmi group was the student arm of the National Awami Party (NAP), which today is the ANP.

Canadian author Tarek Fatah was once the secretary general of the NSF-Kazmi group.

NSF is active in many Pakistani universities and colleges. It played a major role in the popular student and labour uprising against the pro-US dictatorship of Field Marshal Ayub Khan in 1967 and 1968. NSF activists were among the first major supporters of future Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and its populist/Socialist Pakistan Peoples Party. One of the leading leaders of NSF, Meraj Muhammad Khan, was made a minister in Bhutto's first cabinet but both NSF and Meraj fell out with the Bhutto government in 1973 when Bhutto started to compromise on his so called Socialist agenda.

Miraj Mohammad Khan remained president of NSF till 1967 and was later replaced by Rasheed Hassan Khan (student of Dow Medical College Karachi) in a council session held in Lahore in 1970.

Following are the main reasons which contributed in withdrawing NSF support from the PPP.

1- After PPP won the 1970's election and emerged as a single largest party in West Pakistan, PPP refused to acknowledge the mandate of Awami League and their demand of greater autonomy and furthermore its policies regarding army operation in East Pakistan .NSF and Mazdoor Kissan Party were the main left organizations who strongly opposed army operation against Bangalis.

2- Differences further deepen when NSF realized that Bhutto is backing of from his promises of radical changes which he made to students and working class.

3- Bhutto wanted to silence his dissidents so he crackdown on workers and students. The breaking point among Bhutto and NSF came when Bhutto crushed labour movement in Site on 7-8 June and in Landhi on 17-18 October in 1972. Several workers were killed and hundreds arrested. Rasheed Hassan Khan then a president of NSF has to go underground.

Consequently NSF withdrew its support from PPP and exposed Bhutto’s hypocrisy and opportunistic politics. Miraj Mohamed khan decided to remain in PPP. His theory was that establishment is trying to create conflicts among workeing class and the PPP. In later years due to his differences with Bhutto, Miraj khan left the PPP. Miraj later formed Qumi Mohaz-e-Azadi and his own faction of NSF. And once, a flambount student leader like Miraj fell in to political isolation and he never regained his previous political credibility and popularity.

These splits helped NSF's arch rivals, the right-wing, Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT), the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, gain ground in the many student union elections held in the country's campuses in the seventies and the eighties. Till then NSF had been sweeping student union elections in the Fifties and the Sixties. NSF was also affected by the creation of Pakistan Peoples Party's student wing, Peoples Students Federation (PSF)who's main pupose was to counter the NSF opposition to PPP in early 70's .

NSF saw a further split in 1980's when USSR invaded Afghanistan. A faction believed that supporting the Mujahideen from the soil of Pakistan was incorrect as those would grow out of any controls threatening the host country, Pakistan; besides it also believed that this support would be tantamount to supporting the Army Junta and dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq playing in the hands of USA. However the other group favoured the Mujahideen for their struggle against the usurpers. That gave birth to a dissident group which called itself DSF (Democratic Students Federation) with the former thoughts.

When left leaning and progressive parties were persecuted and harassed by the right-wing dictatorship of President General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in the eighties, dozens of NSF activist where arrested, tortured and expelled from the campuses. NSF joined alliance of progressive student parties that included DSF, PSF and many secular nationalist student groups like Baloch Students Federation in student’s union’s elections across the country. NSF gained significant victories in students unions elections before they where banned by General Zia-ul-Huq in 1984. When students’ union elections were banned NSF joined hands with all students’ organizations against this oppression and announced 100 days of protest in campuses. Islami Jamiat Talaba and NSF were the two biggest components of this alliance of students.

NSF suffered heavily from the trend of violence once pioneered by IJT and later adopted by APMSO, and MSF which was intensified in late 80's and 90's. Progressive students where banned from entering or holding their political activities in campuses. Subsequently major campuses have become no go areas for progressive students and NSF is now overshadowed by pro establishment and other regional groups like APMSO and PSF and by Islamic fundamentalist student parties such as IJT and Pakistan Muslim League's student wing, Muslim Students Federation (MSF). NSF is not strong as it used to be however its reorganising and have active units in Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi, Sailkot and some other cites. It has taken part in lawyer’s movement against the dictator ship of General Pervaiz Mushraff.

National Students Federation's yahoo email group. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/National-Students-Federation-Pakistan/ National Students Federation's youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/group/NSFPak National Students Federation's yahoo email group. NSF_PK@YAHOOGROUPS. COM