A Meeting With Farooq Tariq
I got a facebook message from Dr Buttar, of a lecture by Farooq Tariq on the topic of "Left Politics in Pakistan and the building of Awami Workers Party" at NYU Sociology Dept. The topic sounded interesting and I decided to go there. If nothing else, I would meet up with some old faces. Called Bobby Khan and we decided to be there.
It was a decent size gathering round a table. Hashim Bin Rashid, the AWP Lahore GS introduced Farooq Tahir. Farooq Tahir is the General Secretary of the party.
He gave a detailed historical background of the movement for the last decade or so. The following is what I gathered. Words are mine but the thoughts and comments are his.
Society in Pakistan has moved way to the right in the last two decades or so. It is more of a theocratic state than before. In this atmosphere it is increasingly difficult to keep the message going for the progressive ideas and move ahead.
Until recently, Left in Pakistan was as fractured as before. A few years back three parties agreed, after much deliberation, to get together under one roof. His party, Labour Party Pakistan merged with Awami Party and Workers' Party in 2012 to form the Awami Workers Party. Since then it is still going through the pains of an 'arranged marriage' but still pulling through. There are still other parties of the Left, but AWP is the largest of them.
There are a few success stories, he mentioned. The party was the force behind the tenants dispute with the Okara farms, where the tenants refused to be tricked into changing their status into a Leese ( and be easily kicked out). Eventually they prevailed. Left also claims to be the driving force behind the movement for the restoration of Justice.
Still there are many uphill tasks. When the President of AWP Abid Minto filed a petition against the repeal of Land Reforms (Shairat Court repealed the reforms done under ZA Bhutto in 72 and 77), it was a big question whether an appeal can even be filed against the ruling of Shariat courts. Ultimately the CJ Ifkikhar Chaudhry at least, allowed the petition to be filed. The case is ongoing.
The party has made some inroads in the KPK, the Frontier Province and has contested elections in Swat. It has made alliance with Baluch Nationalists and participated in their long march from Quetta to Sind and to Lahore. The Party supports the right of provinces or self determination and secession. It took its stand against the Kalabagh Dam as the smaller provinces were against it.
The Party has decided not to partner with Right conservatives on any issues as they tend to steal the show and take all the credit. It supports the nationalization of all the religious madrassas and women rights including the right of abortion.
The Right has taken many of the issues which were the broiler plate Left causes ie universal education and anti privatization. Right conservatives quote Faiz and Jalib all the times. They speak in the vocabulary of the Left.
On a personal note, Farooq Tariq was a budding journalist when he had to move into self exile in 1978 during the military dictatorship. He moved to the Netherlands and with fellow expats joined the Trotskyist movement and became a part of the Committee of a Workers' International. It was there that he has worked with Lal Khan. International Marxist Tendency, IMT, an offshoot of CWI, had Pakistani expats in the leading role.
Later when the situation in Pakistan changed he moved back. At that time there was a split amongst many returning activists. Some decided to make inroads into the mainstream liberal parties while others including him decided to stay the course in a pure left organization.
It was an evening worth the trip into Manhattan during the rush hours. It was a time to reminisce into the past and see what is left of the Left in Pakistan and wonder that the days of our youth, which we used to think were horrible social conditions now seem much better than the days facing the youth of Pakistan these days. It also gave an opportunity to meet old lefties Ahsanullah Khan Bobby, Masood Haider and Shahid Comrade
In such a conservative leaning society, it is a success in itself to keep the light on. Quite appropriately the election symbol of the party is the light bulb. It will be a big contribution if they can keep the light on in this long dark night which has set on Pakistan.
I got a facebook message from Dr Buttar, of a lecture by Farooq Tariq on the topic of "Left Politics in Pakistan and the building of Awami Workers Party" at NYU Sociology Dept. The topic sounded interesting and I decided to go there. If nothing else, I would meet up with some old faces. Called Bobby Khan and we decided to be there.
It was a decent size gathering round a table. Hashim Bin Rashid, the AWP Lahore GS introduced Farooq Tahir. Farooq Tahir is the General Secretary of the party.
He gave a detailed historical background of the movement for the last decade or so. The following is what I gathered. Words are mine but the thoughts and comments are his.
Society in Pakistan has moved way to the right in the last two decades or so. It is more of a theocratic state than before. In this atmosphere it is increasingly difficult to keep the message going for the progressive ideas and move ahead.
Until recently, Left in Pakistan was as fractured as before. A few years back three parties agreed, after much deliberation, to get together under one roof. His party, Labour Party Pakistan merged with Awami Party and Workers' Party in 2012 to form the Awami Workers Party. Since then it is still going through the pains of an 'arranged marriage' but still pulling through. There are still other parties of the Left, but AWP is the largest of them.
There are a few success stories, he mentioned. The party was the force behind the tenants dispute with the Okara farms, where the tenants refused to be tricked into changing their status into a Leese ( and be easily kicked out). Eventually they prevailed. Left also claims to be the driving force behind the movement for the restoration of Justice.
Still there are many uphill tasks. When the President of AWP Abid Minto filed a petition against the repeal of Land Reforms (Shairat Court repealed the reforms done under ZA Bhutto in 72 and 77), it was a big question whether an appeal can even be filed against the ruling of Shariat courts. Ultimately the CJ Ifkikhar Chaudhry at least, allowed the petition to be filed. The case is ongoing.
The party has made some inroads in the KPK, the Frontier Province and has contested elections in Swat. It has made alliance with Baluch Nationalists and participated in their long march from Quetta to Sind and to Lahore. The Party supports the right of provinces or self determination and secession. It took its stand against the Kalabagh Dam as the smaller provinces were against it.
The Party has decided not to partner with Right conservatives on any issues as they tend to steal the show and take all the credit. It supports the nationalization of all the religious madrassas and women rights including the right of abortion.
The Right has taken many of the issues which were the broiler plate Left causes ie universal education and anti privatization. Right conservatives quote Faiz and Jalib all the times. They speak in the vocabulary of the Left.
On a personal note, Farooq Tariq was a budding journalist when he had to move into self exile in 1978 during the military dictatorship. He moved to the Netherlands and with fellow expats joined the Trotskyist movement and became a part of the Committee of a Workers' International. It was there that he has worked with Lal Khan. International Marxist Tendency, IMT, an offshoot of CWI, had Pakistani expats in the leading role.
Later when the situation in Pakistan changed he moved back. At that time there was a split amongst many returning activists. Some decided to make inroads into the mainstream liberal parties while others including him decided to stay the course in a pure left organization.
It was an evening worth the trip into Manhattan during the rush hours. It was a time to reminisce into the past and see what is left of the Left in Pakistan and wonder that the days of our youth, which we used to think were horrible social conditions now seem much better than the days facing the youth of Pakistan these days. It also gave an opportunity to meet old lefties Ahsanullah Khan Bobby, Masood Haider and Shahid Comrade
In such a conservative leaning society, it is a success in itself to keep the light on. Quite appropriately the election symbol of the party is the light bulb. It will be a big contribution if they can keep the light on in this long dark night which has set on Pakistan.
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