10.10.2001

Pakistan in turmoil

Farooq Tariq, general secretary of the Labour Party Pakistan, describes the situation in his country following the onslaught on Afghanistan. As the comrade makes clear, the working class faces two great dangers. On the one hand, Musharaf?s military government and its US backers. On the other, islamic fundamentalism and black reaction. There must be a fightback on two fronts. Farooq Tariq?s text has been slightly edited

Thousands of Pakistani religious elements, including young students, took to the streets all over Pakistan on the first day of the bombing of Afghanistan. At Lahore, over a dozen demonstrations were organised by the religious parties. In particular Peshawar and Quetta, two cities close to Afghanistan, have seen massive demonstrations. Police tried to break them up with tear gas and baton charges.

Will these demonstrations be able to take the masses with them in the coming days? What is the future for the military regime in Pakistan? What is the general mood among ordinary Pakistanis after the US attacks? These are some of the questions that will be examined in this article.

The air attack on Afghanistan brought resentment among ordinary Pakistanis across the country, although the level of anger varies from area to area. There is a very militant mood developing in the North West Frontier Province and Baluchistan, the two provinces bordering Afghanistan. The general feeling among working people was that now the Taliban will retaliate and that the US has not done well from this attack.

?Is this not terrorism?? Nazir Bhatti, a motor mechanic, asked me, while commenting on the present situation. ?If Americans die, that is very bad. If Afghanis die, it is no problem for the rich countries,? Nazir said. The comments of a hotel worker at Sahiwal, a district in central Punjab, just three hours after the bombing, were similar. When we stopped at a cafe last night, he told us that he thought there would be a lot of bloodshed now the US has attacked.

The mood in Punjabi cities is different from that in the villages. In the villages, Osama bin Laden is becoming something of a folk hero. He is worshipped everywhere and has become the person to follow. How this will be translated into action is yet to be seen. But one aspect is very clear: the US has brought more hostility upon itself by these air attacks.

The military regime has, however, become more popular among the traders and rich people. They see opportunities to make money resulting from the new policy. Every day, one or another foreign secretary or prime minister is visiting Pakistan - praising the brave stand the military has taken by supporting the US and its allies in combating ?terrorism? and telling the regime of their plans to generate economic activity. What great hypocrisy on the part of these gentlemen in grey suits, who were previously lecturing the military regime constantly on the great fruits of democracy and a non-nuclear Pakistan. Following Blair?s visit, Colin Powell is coming here to declare his appreciation for the timely help given by Pakistan to the US and its allies.

But ordinary Pakistanis are not impressed. With rising unemployment and price hikes - the result of blindly following IMF and World Bank policies - it is the masses who pay. With the ongoing attacks on Afghanistan, the feelings of hatred for the military regime and US imperialism will grow. A fact that general Musharaf has noted, as witnessed by his plea in a televised speech on October 8 that the US military action should be short and sharp. But there is no short, sharp way of dealing with those who have been trained and equipped by the same power who today declares them terrorists.

The heroes of the past have become villains. For the military regime the jihad of yesterday becomes the terrorism of today. For us, the left forces of Pakistan, those who were fanatics earlier remain so today. US imperialism was the enemy yesterday: so it remains today. But for the religious fanatics, the US was a great source of help for their jihad in the 80s. Now it is a great Satan that must be destroyed at all costs.

In a debate before September 11 in Islamabad with Liaqat Baluch, the second in command of Pakistan?s fanatical and most powerful religious party, the main arguments heard against the religious parties? politics were that they have always been tied up with those of successive military regimes. The religious parties have been used at every important juncture of Pakistani politics by the military, I told the audience in Baluch?s presence. Whenever the military want of get rid of a civil government, the religious parties are very much willing to do the dirty work of creating a ?breakdown in law and order?.

Liaqat Baluch became very angry when I said that in the 80s it was US dollars and not jihad that was the guiding principle for the fight against the Soviets. But most of the religious parties are now openly opposing their masters of the past, hoping to catch the new mood of the masses.

After September 11, whenever general Musharaf appears on TV he seems upset and agitated. He wants to say many things, but does not say them. He knows what can happen to him. He is playing with fire. By siding with US imperialism, he has turned many of his former friends into enemies. October 7, along with the US attack, also brought the news of top ranking changes among army generals. Two of Musharaf?s close allies had to go. Apparently, a close friend of the fanatical religious forces has been promoted as joint chief of army staff.

General Musharaf may be receiving prime ministers and foreign secretaries every day - an unprecedented situation for Pakistan - but this is unlikely to help stabilise his regime. We do not expect massive outside help to lay the basis for a recovery in the ever-declining economy of Pakistan. On the contrary, there is a growing danger of the development of a reactionary popular movement against his policies. A lot more blood may be shed than the military regime expects. Musharaf says that the nation is with him. For him ?nation? means the traders, exporters, feudal lords and capitalists who smell US dollars. But ordinary Pakistanis are becoming more and more vocal against his policies.

He may lose power earlier than many think. It may be an assassination attempt by a fanatic or change in leadership from within the regime. He is not as strong as he appears to be. He may have bought some time, but he has not bought peace of mind.

Unfortunately, those who have been saying that US imperialism is an enemy of the workers nationally and internationally are in a very weak position. Their political terminology has been proved correct with the passage of time, but they do not have the power or resources to see this reflected on a mass level.

It is not the old faces of the left that have now surfaced. It is the new and young voices around the Labour Party Pakistan who are eager to build a peace movement and oppose all those who believe that they can use the language of terror and suppression.