This letter refers to the enlightening and scholarly article, 'Academic or Activist?' (TNS, June 16) by Haider Shahbaz, himself an academic. The main premise of the writer is that it is not just okay, but actually desirable for academics to have political opinions. As without political opinion and discussion, they would be passively transmitting facts and information to students. As power always influences knowledge, critical analysis of power, and academics and students standing in solidarity with oppressed groups in very essential. Without such political activity, universities will only become places of regurgitation of ideologies formulated by groups holding power. The example of 20th century academics and students who stood against oppressive colonial power structures is a good example. Internationally also, authoritarian leaders like Bolsonara of Brazil and Modi of India have tried to prevent dissenting opinions from permeating in universities so that they became only anodyne places of passing on of officially certified facts and information.
Akbar Jan Marwat
Islamabad
Cities and their suburbs or satellite towns ought to be celebrated for their modern amenities and cleanliness....
This letter refers to the news report ‘Rules being amended to remove upper age bar to hire top professionals’ . In...
In response to an earlier Israeli attack on its diplomatic facilities in Syria, Iranian forces retaliated by firing...
In most democratic states, the executive is often subordinate to the legislature in word and deed. Pakistan,...
In today's world, with all the amazing technology and progress we see, you might think people are really growing and...
India, often touted as the world's largest democracy, will begin holding its general elections from April 19. The BJP...