Why did the black Vigo come to Lums?

The arrival of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) to Lums on Monday, 14 March was marked with the closure of all food places and a protest by the faculty and student body. The 2 hour long session which was supposed to be held from 12am to 2pm turned into a 7 hour long session with the COAS, VC and a limited number of Lums students. We have varying reviews from multiple students at Lums, some students found the session to be a success while others raised questions about the intensive security, protocol given to the COAS, and the closure of all food places on campus. An anonymous attendee shared with us, “All kinds of questions were asked, there was not a single topic which was not covered.” She added that “the topics of questions included political issues, the extension of the army chief, making Gilgit a separate province, missing person cases, minorities issues, past mistakes of the army, and political history.” Moreover, she added that “The audience consisted of anti-army people and at some points they were also blunt and even rude. But the COAS answered each question. A lot of humour was used and questions regarding the Balochistan issue and the army’s involvement in everything was discussed. There was nothing that was not discussed. The responses were very satisfactory and the chief invested 10 mins on each question and spoke constantly for 7 hours. He was giving us facts and everything was crystal clear. I would say the session was 100% satisfactory.” When asked about the extensive security on campus on the day of the protest, the student shared, “I would disagree with the concerns raised about security. When I entered lums on the day of the session, my car did not have a sticker, yet my car was allowed to enter and there was no campus lockdown. She also mentioned that “The army chief shared that the protocol was not for me but for your safety. He also shared that army saved Lums from a suicide attack.” Sharing her personal opinion on the session, the student shared “I would like to add that every chief regardless of the country they are serving deserves the same protocol. His life being at stake means that the country is at stake, he’s such an important person. Making the protocol an issue is a nonsensical thing as this was a need not a luxury. I don’t know much about the protest that happened afterwards and don’t want to make comments on it. Overall the session was great. The COAS kept on answering until the VC announced that the COAS will be taking the last two questions.” Another attendee shared that students weren’t only allowed to ask questions but were also allowed to ask follow up questions, which were answered by the COAS. Several questions regarding corruption by the military, Ali Wazir, Asad Toor, missing people in Balochistan and war crimes in the 1971 war with Bangladesh were asked. The student said that students were hesitant to ask question and one of the students asked beforehand, “black vigo toh nahi ayagi.” The anonymous student added that “I think Bajwa knew he was coming to Lums and that’s why he decided to handle the situation in a clever way.” The student added, “The security was way too high. I mean the entire university was under lockdown, he (COAS) answers questions and people forget everything. I mean classes got cancelled. What is the point of the session agar itni security type kaam karna hai.” Most of the attendees expressed dismay regarding restricted phone use and not being allowed to go on bathroom breaks during the session, however they also mentioned that despite these restrictions open discourse should not be discouraged. While the session seemed satisfactory to the attendees, those critical of the establishment did not attend the session and resorted to a protest in the central courtyard after the session concluded. The “Militarisation of Universities” conducted by two Lums professors, Dr. Nida Kirmani, Dr. Ali Raza and students on the same day to criticise the visit of a representative of the army to a private university.