DANGEROUS LIAISONS

Mustafa Zaidi’s troubles began a year before his death. It was 1969, and Pakistan was on the cusp of change. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who had fallen out with the regime of Gen Ayub Khan, had formed the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Revolution was in the air. Student unions had helped bring down the 10-year regime of Gen Ayub Khan through mobilisation and protests.

In West Pakistan, unions like the National Students Federation, wielded considerable influence at public universities. In the East...