’’منافق اور بزدل نہیں، پاکستان کی تبدیلی میں حصہ ڈالوں گی‘‘

Pakistani student elected LSE postgraduate students officer

Bilal bin Saqib (L) with Malala Yousafzai

LONDON: A Pakistani student has been elected as the leader of more than 6870 postgraduate students at the London School of Economics (LSE) Union.

Bilal bin Saqib who hails from Lahore, won the elections at LSE to become the postgraduate student's officer, beating 20 others students.

The post of postgraduate students officer is a paid part-time leadership position to represent over 6870 postgraduate students (62 per cent of the student population at the LSE) locally and internationally. Bilal will also take up a senior position on the Student Union Executive Committee as well as the Trustee Board.

Currently enrolled in the MSc Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship programme at LSE, Saqib said that he was thrilled to be elected for this position. “I am thankful to all the students who posed confidence in me. It is a huge responsibility and I am already working hard to come up to the expectations of students.”

Currently enrolled in the MSc Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship programme at LSE, Saqib said he was thrilled to be elected for this position.

Bilal explained that his job includes representing and voicing the concerns of postgraduate students at LSE and working together with the school strategy to enhance the student and teaching experience.

In Lahore Bilal studied at Lahore Grammar School. He said that he wants to help students from across the world, who attend LSE, in terms of not just studying but also experiencing and indulging themselves fully into trying new opportunities and being more entrepreneurial.

He completed his undergraduate from the Queen Mary University of London, where he now serves as a mentor for the students. Saqib is the only Pakistani student to have won a case against a UK Students Union for unjustifiable treatment. 

He was given monetary compensation and a written apology. “I cannot disclose facts of the case as we reached out of court settlement, I believe in equality for everybody around me, and I take the same seriously for myself as well," Saqib said.

"In an international platform like that, I was indeed motivated to pick the right battle worth fighting for. I believe this would send out an appropriate message to my fellow Pakistanis and everybody who faces this to be resilience and show perseverance,” he added.

Saqib with Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar

Saqib is also the founder of "Tayaba.org", an NGO which helps water-deprived communities in Pakistan. The organisation provides innovative H2O wheels that help to easily drag up to 40 litres of water. “The initiative has impacted the lives of over 20,000 people and operates predominantly in Sindh and Baluchistan. We are now planning to expand more in Pakistan and Africa.”

Saqib also met Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar during his recent fundraising campaign in London and presented about the H2O wheel and its benefits.