The Deterioration of Democracy — Habib University Edition

At a campus meeting, students raised concerns — through their elected representative — about a problematic course structure. Faculty initially responded with evidence-based counterarguments, which is fine. Then a senior professor responded with condescension instead of engagement, which is where this stopped being fine.

Two things bothered me about the exchange.

First, that institutional excellence doesn't preclude valid criticism. Just because the university is better than most educational institutions out there doesn't mean it cannot be criticized for the things it does wrong.

Second, the professor's disrespectful treatment of the student representative undermined the very process that was supposed to let concerns like this get heard. I waited for student outrage, for some administrative intervention. What I got was silence.

That silence felt familiar. It mirrors Pakistan's broader democratic failures, where citizens have grown accustomed to institutional abuse of power. Students internalized helplessness, the professor embodied authoritarian power, and the administration played the role of ineffectual oversight — the perfect trio.

Systemic dysfunction in a nation's institutions has a way of trickling down and infecting everything it touches, even a single classroom on a single afternoon.