EGYPT: Politics gets short shrift on campuses

It is not uncommon to see scores of police vehicles and anti-riot soldiers stationed outside Egypt's government-run universities. In recent years, universities have been venues for vociferous student protests against local politics and anti-US acts in the Middle East. On several occasions, campus activists, particularly the Islamists, have been detained and questioned by the police. They may be dismissed from classes or even jailed.

Students blame the security restrictions and swoops for most students being apathetic to politics. "Politics on the campus is a recipe for trouble," said Norhan Mohamed, an arts student at Cairo University, Egypt's most prestigious higher education institution. "Protests are usually dispersed by the police or pro-government students. To me, the only extra-curricular activity I pursue on the campus is to do exercises in the gym."

Mohamed admitted she did not vote in recent student elections in which most candidates won unopposed. "Student unions are of no good to students. They do not provide actual services for them. With all this in mind, the best thing for me is to avoid politics," she told University World News.

Citing a lack of free expression on the campus, several students have turned to the internet to vent their anger on university officials and governmental policies. Islamist students have set up a blog titled "No to Favouritism" in which they rap what they allege is prejudice by the police and officials in the government-run universities.

They claim they are often harassed because they belong to the banned Muslim Brotherhood. Banned since 1954, the Brotherhood is Egypt's biggest opposition party and has more than a fifth of parliamentary seats although its members are listed as independents.

In a bid to protest against alleged favouritism in the Helwan University, a government institution south of Cairo, angry Islamist students bought courgettes or zucchinis, referred to in Egypt as a symbol of favouritism, and gave them away to their colleagues inside classrooms.

"This was an innovative way to express our opposition to this policy without provoking the police stationed on the campus," said one of the activists, who declined to give his name for fear of punishment.

Other students cite what they describe as the pallid political scene in this Middle Eastern country of 80 million for being indifferent to politics: "Egypt has more 20 political parties but none of them is strongly felt out in the street," said Mahmoud Ahmad, a commerce student in the Ain Shams University in eastern Cairo. "Most of these parties are engaged in internal wrangling over stewardship as was recently the case in the Al Ghad Party."

This was a reference to clashes between two rival factions in an opposition party in central Cairo earlier this month. Seven people were injured in the clashes which caused heavy damage to the party's headquarters.

"Meanwhile, the ruling National Democratic Party has been monopolising power in the country for around 30 years. Do you call this politics? To me, it is chaos and authoritarianism," Ahmad added.

"Egyptian universities are full of activities, including the political ones," stressed Jihad Ouda, a professor of economics and political science at Helwan University. "But students think twice about activities, which mean direct confrontation with the authorities on the campus."

Ouda, a member of Egypt's ruling party, said universities were not forums for practicing politics: "The role of the university to help students know about their nation and the outside world; that is, to make them politically aware of what is going on around them."

He attributed student political apathy to social and economic reasons. "Egyptian parents, who are themselves indifferent to politics, usually advise their children to avoid political activities in order to enjoy peace of mind. In addition, politics is generally conceived as a luxury enjoyed only by the rich."

In Ouda's view, police are called on the campus only to prevent "a big problem": "Egypt's government universities are so big that a student protest may attract thousands. Such huge demonstrations would raise the concern of all officials, starting from the police to university presidents. Without instant intervention, a disaster may happen."