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politics in pakistan
Dictatorship's U-turn signals all-change in Pakistan's politics
By Farooq Tariq- General Secretary, Labour Party of Pakistan
The 11th September incident has had a devastating effect on politics in Pakistan, polarising forces to an extent never seen before. The Pakistan Peoples Party, the party of the Bhuttos, is now openly supporting the stand of the military regime in support of the Americans. So is the Mutihida Qaumi Movement (MQM) the party of the immigrants with a mass base in Sind cities.
In the North West Frontier province, the National Awami Party, the largest party of the Pushtuns has also changed sides – from opposing the military regime to openly supporting it.
Before 11th September the PPP and ANP openly opposed the military regime and were part of the Alliance For Restoration of Democracy (ARD).
The PPP also tried its best to please the military regime by participating in demonstrations on the so-called Solidarity Day called by General Musharaf on 27th September.
Some of the smaller alliances of the radical and Stalinist parties are also openly supporting the standpoint of the military regime. "The US must be supported to root out terrorism" is the cry from these ex-left parties justifying their support for the regime. These "left" parties include the National Workers Party and Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (Communist Workers Peasant Party). They have now abandoned their anti-US sloganeering.
The Muslim League of ex Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the other hand is trailing behind the religious fundamentalists, and is half-heartedly supporting the Taliban and opposing the military regime’s support for Bush.
The religious fundamentalist forces are propagandising for all out support for Osama Bin Laden and an all out war. Over 50,000 demonstrated in Quetta on 2nd October in favor of the Taliban led by Jamiat Ulama Islam, a religious party that has openly supported the Taliban from the beginning. It was an ally of Benazir Bhutto’s PPP while it was in power from 1994 to 1996. It was this period when the Taliban took over Afghanistan.
As she comes on side with the military regime, Benazir Bhutto is now claiming that she was "about to go against" the Taliban regime in 1996, when she was overthrown.
In fact it was her period in office which paved the way for the Taliban taking over in Kabul. The first act of the Taliban at the time was to hang the body of Dr. Najibullah in the main centre of Kabul for a few days, after he had been taken out of the United Nations office and killed.
Nobody, not the UN, the Americans or Benazir Bhutto, had anything special to say about this barbarian act of the Taliban. Dr. Najibullah had been the head of Afghanistan government from 1988 to 1992, until he was overthrown by the Mujahadeen in 1992, and took refuge for four years at UN headquarters.
The military regime has for the first time hypocritically condemned the terrorist attack on the Indian held Kashmir assembly where in a suicide attack, 32 were killed.
The Jaish Mohammed, a religious fanatic group, which has claimed responsibility for this brutal attack, has a base in Pakistan. The regime could no longer say the attack in Srinagar was part of the "national struggle" but that the attack in New York was a "terrorist attack".
Jaish Mohammed’s leader Masood Azhar was released only two years before from an Indian jail on the demand of the hijackers of an Indian plane. After his entry to Pakistan from Afghanistan, he was allowed to form the Jaish Mohammed group, collect funds from all over and to train the terrorists in Pakistan. Most small shops all over Pakistan have a box inside with an appeal to help the Kashmir Mujahadeen with funds.
The Kashmir Mujahadeen has nothing to do with the national struggle of Kashmir, but plans to make Kashmir another Afghanistan, controlled by a new Taliban. They had the full support of the Pakistani state under the military and under the previous civil governments of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.
From a position of full support of the Taliban and Mujahadeen, the military regime has taken a U-turn to support the even bigger terror, US imperialism, to carry an all out attack on the Afghanistan people.
The 11th September attack has also polarised the organisations of civil society. Some are taking a position of No to War but yes to "ameasured response". This position was taken by a group led by former chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and renowned human rights activist Asma Jahangir.
Her article in the Daily Dawn on 30th September revealed her position quite clearly. On the other side, many other are advocating a position of "No to War; No to Terrorism", condemning both and declaring their solidarity openly with the international peace movement. Fareeda Shaheed of Shirkat Ghah and Nighar Ahmed of the Aurat Foundation lead this trend.
The Labour Party of Pakistan position is very close to the position of "No to War; No to terrorism".
We have no confidence in the UN to solve this issue by legalising the war on Afghanistan. Nor will we support the creation of International Criminal Courts (ICC), as this will be another institution for the cover of the crimes of the US government.
From the very first day, the LPP condemned both the terrorist attack and the policies of US imperialism carried out in the past against the colonial countries.
The LPP would never justify the terrorist attack for any reason. But we are also consistent in our opposition to the methods and program of US Imperialism.
The LPP was already organizing the anti IMF and Word Bank movement in Pakistan. It also started to build a peace movement as like others, it is anticipating a fully-fledged war on Afghanistan.
The LPP has to oppose religious fundamentalism and the powers that were harbouring it, mainly the military regime of Pakistan in general and the ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) in particular.
Unlike the others we did not support the ‘lesser evil’ philosophy. More and more political trends from right to left are justifying their betrayals in the name of having no choice but to support the ‘lesser evil’. The US is supporting the lesser evil (the Pakistan military regime) in comparison to the Taliban. Pakistan is supporting the lesser evil (the US), according to General Musharaf in his televised speech.
The position of the official labour movement is also more and more to support the military regime. The Pakistan Workers Confederation main leadership has openly supported the military regime, with an appeal to the US not to attack Afghanistan.
The trade union leaders within the PWC who are members of LPP are waging a fight within the labour movement against support for the war. These trade union leaders, including Yousaf Baluch, are receiving a good hearing from the workers.
The religious fundamentalists have a different level of influence in different parts of the country. They are now losing ground in the cities, mainly Lahore and in Karachi to. But they are in a more favourable position in the main cities near Afghanistan like Peshawar and Quetta.
They are also making headway in the small towns and villages across Pakistan. The war has not yet started but the war within the political organisations is reaching new heights.
The most commonly asked question is "what option did the military regime have"? And what difference could American aid make to the Pakistani military regime?
It is clear that the capitalist economy internationally is in a period of crisis. Through different institutions like the IMF and World Bank they had made agreements that put the entire burden on the already sinking economies of the third world countries.
Against these injustices, a strong anti capitalist movement was developing in the advanced countries. We saw hundreds and thousands of workers in different parts of the advanced world protesting in anti capitalist demonstrations.
After 11th September, it is clear that American government has got new friends. They have lifted sanctions against Pakistan and have announced a good friendship relationship with the military regime.
The general impression is created that the American aid would help the sick economy of Pakistan. But this is not true. Pakistan’s exports have been deeply affected since September 11th. Many export orders have been cancelled or postponed.
The main crisis of the Pakistan economy is productivity. That will decrease even further. All the conditions of the IMF and World Bank have made the life of the workers and peasants even worse than before the military took over in October 1999. In these circumstances, the revival of the Pakistan economy does not seem possible – even if US imperialism pumps in massive injections.
Aid will make the life of the rich and the ruling class better, but not the life of the workers. That was the case in the eighties. Over $30 billion were pumped into the Pakistan economy after the Russians entered Afghanistan.
This massive amount did not change the life of the masses. But it did help the generals and their sons and daughters to become the new rich. We will see many more Ijazul Haqs (son of General Zia UL Haq, the military dictator from 1977 to 1988) and Hamayoons (son of another military general close to Zia).
They are both now very rich and own factories and many big houses. The American aid (if it comes) will be a real treat for the military generals.
US aid will make a difference to the possible length of the military regime. Before 11th September, the regime was losing its social base quite rapidly. But the terrorist attack and its U turn towards American imperialism has earned Musharaf good new political friends like the PPP. The regime has strengthened its position for the time being.
But once the war starts, the mood can change within the military where at present it seems there’s total support for Musharaf’s position.
There are religious fundamentalist elements within the army top ranks, who have been forced by the pressure of the events to keep quiet – but they have not been kicked out of the army. Once the war starts, the anti American feelings can gain more of a social base.
It seems very likely that the Taliban regime will lose power soon. This will definitely boost the morale of the military regime and help them to remain in power longer than the expected three years.
The U-turn of the military regime in favour of the US has many negative aspects. It has given a new life to the fanatic forces. It has endangered the life of the progressive and left forces within Pakistan.
The labour movement has to oppose American intervention. But it cannot close its eyes to the growing influence of the religious fundamentalists.
The religious fundamentalist forces are in contradiction with US imperialism, but workers cannot gain by siding with either of these forces against the other.
