[Reader-list] Lal Khan: Pakistan--A State at War Wit Itself

[Yogi Sikand]

 Pakistan - a state at war with itself
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By Lal Khan in Lahore
 Tuesday, 15 May 2007  [image: Pakistan - a state at war with itself] The
situation in Pakistan is marked by the ongoing war in Afghanistan and the
tribal areas of Pakistan, the insurgency in Balochistan, the nationalist
movement in Sindh, the rise of fundamentalist terror, suicidal attacks, bomb
blasts, female Islamic fanatical vigilantes challenging the writ of the
state, cross-border terrorism in Kashmir, serious suicidal attempts on
Musharraf's own life, the crisis of the judiciary and now the beginning of
the civil war in Karachi and elsewhere. This is to name just a few events in
the ongoing turmoil in Pakistan. Yet these brutal forces of black reaction
that are trying to blow society apart are mostly creations of elements
deeply linked the Pakistani state.
After the derailment of the 1968-69 Revolution in Pakistan, the ruling
classes brought the vicious Zia military dictatorship to power in 1977 as an
act of vengeance against the challenge put up by the working classes to the
exploitative rule of capitalism. They were eleven years of the most brutal
nightmare in the 60 years of Pakistan's traumatic history. In his recent
book, "Frontline Pakistan" Zahid Hussain writing about that period states
"Afraid to face a free electorate and having no mandate to govern, the
general turned to Allah."
Faced with a rising mass revolt Zia used religious fundamentalism to prolong
his reign of terror. In this he was fully supported by the Americans. In
this period the CIA was involved in the counter-revolutiona ry "Jihad"
against the left wing PDPA government in Afghanistan. The Zia dictatorship
was the main executioner of this operation, not just with American consent
but with their full support. General Zia infiltrated Islamic fundamentalism
within the State and throughout society. Zia-Ul-Haq moved to Islamise the
Pakistani army, weaning it away from its secular British traditions. Islamic
philosophy became part of the curriculum at the command and staff colleges.
With billions of dollars from the US and Saudi Arabia pouring into its
kitty, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) was turned into a parallel
structure wielding enormous power over all aspects of government. Even after
Zia's demise, and the so-called democratic interlude of the Benazir and
Nawaz Sharif regimes, the stranglehold of the ISI never eased.
There were still no significant changes in the control of ISI over foreign
policy, the nuclear program and other vital aspects of the state when
Musharraf took over through a bloodless military coup in October 1999. Even
after 9/11 the ISI continued its logistical and other support for the
Islamic fundamentalists' mercenaries in Afghanistan, Kashmir, Central Asiaand
Pakistan itself. Musharraf did try to rein in the intelligence organizations
but with little success. Some of the more fanatical operatives were
sidelined, but many more remained in important places from where they have
continued to help their reactionary protégés.
In the 2002 elections the ISI had assured Musharraf of a friendly parliament
and along with the newly fabricated Pakistan Muslim League (Q) they
manufactured the Islamic Alliance MMA that was facilitated into getting into
parliament. These mullahs later played a decisive role in getting the
17thamendment passed which legitimized Musharraf's presidency in
military
uniform.
The military continued to patronize the religious right. This explains why
veiled and armed women from the Jamia Hafsa can march into a children's
library in Islamabad while they are still under their enforced occupation.
This could also be why the regime backs down and watches helplessly as those
vigilante women assume the role of morale patrons and policing and illegally
abduct women and children in the heart of Pakistan's capital.
Apart from religious prejudices the Zia dictatorship and the ISI created
other organizations along linguistic, ethnic and chauvinist lines to drive a
wedge into the class unity of the proletariat. The most significant was the
creation of the Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) based upon the Urdu speaking
immigrants who had moved to Karachi and other cities from UP, CP and other
provinces of India. This transmigration was the result of the reactionary
partition of the Subcontinent in 1947 on a religious basis.
The British imperialists in connivance with the local Hindu and Muslim elite
leaders committed this gruesome crime in which more than 2.7 million people
were slaughtered in ethnic frenzy. The British and local ruling classes were
terrified that the national liberation struggle would pass over into
economic and social liberation through a Socialist Revolution.
The rise of the MQM was also due to the ebbing of the revolutionary tide
that had peaked in the late sixties and early seventies. But the whole
process was guided by the agencies of the state. Karachi, which was also
known as the Petrograd of Pakistan, has been in the throes of ethnic and
sectarian conflicts for almost three decades. The leaders of other national,
ethnic and linguistic communities also had a role to play in propping up
their own financial interests by whipping up chauvinistic violence between
different communities in Karachi.
The MQM and the Jamat-i-Islami are in the forefront of fomenting this
reactionary frenzy. MQM is a coalition partner of the present Musharraf
dictatorship, the governor of Sindh and other important functionaries of the
government also belong to the MQM. Over the weekend of May 12-13 more than
40 people were killed and hundreds injured, one television office was
ransacked and the city was under the control of an armed mob belonging to
the MQM. This is not the first time that the MQM has been involved in brutal
killings and genocide.
This ethnic chauvinist organization has neo-fascist tendencies like the
Islamic fundamentalists, and has a history of involvement in extortion,
robberies, crime, plunder and assassination in its power belts. Incidentally
Musharraf is also a Muhajir (immigrant from India). On May 12 the suspended
chief Justice of the Supreme Court was to visit Karachi and address the
Sindh Bar. Various political parties had been trying to use this campaign of
the lawyers to foist their own political agenda on the movement. Many
rallies were planned to welcome the Chief Justice. But the MQM planned with
its own government to crush this movement. Hence, the police and state
forces stayed away when the MQM vigilantes went on a shooting spree in
different areas of the city. The irony is that MQM also organised a huge
rally to mourn those who had been killed in this violence!
But the problem for the state is that the Frankenstein monsters that it has
created are now getting out of control. Not only is the orgy of violence
carried out by the MQM creating a serious law and order problem, but the
stooges of the state, the Islamic fundamentalists, MQM and other reactionary
outfits are now involved in bloody clashes between each other. The Chief
Justice and the Supreme Judiciary who endorsed Musharraf's rule and who have
been acting as a safety valve for the regime, now have also fallen apart and
the important pillars of the state are colliding with each other.
The campaign around the suspended Chief Justice has attained such
significance because there is a burning resentment against the regime
throughout society. The dominant political parties are not offering any
alternative economic programme. Hence, the vacuum. But historically, due to
the corrupt character of the Pakistani ruling classes, they have had to rely
on the state more and more to cover up their crimes and corruption. In this
process the state, and especially the army, interfered in the economy more
and more. Now the largest business entrepreneurs and tycoons in the country
are the army generals.
The black money made from the drug trade and arms smuggling, the operations
during the Afghan Jihad of the 1980s and later, all brought in large sums of
finance capital into different institutions of the state, especially the
army and the ISI. These different sections of finance capital represented
within the state's military and civilian bureaucracy are now in conflict
with each other. These contradictions have now exploded with such intensity
that they have brought the conflicts within the state out into the open.
The tragedy is that the PPP is not offering the masses a clear way out from
this atrocious situation. It is ironic that while being the traditional
party of the masses, its leadership is afraid of the mass movement and is
avoiding coming out with the radical socialist programme that is enshrined
in its founding documents. Hence the flux and stalemate.
Lenin once said "Politics is concentrated economics". The turmoil and
convulsions that have gripped the Pakistani state, society and politics are
in reality the reflection of the terrible conditions of the economy itself.
The present regime has been able to amass the largest trade deficit and the
biggest current account deficit in Pakistan's history.
According to the latest World Bank survey 74% of the population lives below
the poverty line. The rate of inflation for food products has crossed the 15
% barrier; 82% of the population is forced to use non-scientific medication;
52% of children never get enrolled in a proper primary school; half of those
enrolled leave school before completing their primary education and the
situation is much worse for girls. Three quarters of the population live
below the minimum wage of Rs 4000 (48 euros) per month. The infant mortality
rate in Pakistan is the highest in the Subcontinent (88 per thousand
births). There is rampant unemployment and according to "The News", the main
English language newspaper, a further 10,000 people fall below the poverty
line every day.
Amongst the 34 poorest economies Pakistan is ranked 17th in education and
last, i.e. 34th in health in terms of allocation against total expenditure.
During 1990-2005 the average share of health spending as a percentage of GNP
was 0.68 % and that of education 1.99 percent.
In the last sixty years of Pakistan's existence spending on social welfare
has been the most neglected. Between 1947 and 2005 the total budgetary
allocations have been the following: Foreign Debt and interest repayment -
34.5%; Defence (Military expenditure) - 23%; Total Development - 20.5%. And
these are the official figures. Most of the so-called development
expenditure is siphoned off by the corrupt bureaucrats, the government and
the private contractors and other go-between elements.
The regime has been following so-called "trickle down economics" dictated by
imperialist financial institutions with a ferocious zeal. The higher the
growth rates the greater the social decline. Electricity shortages and load
shedding create further problems. There is an energy shortage of 2,500
megawatts. This is not only creating hell for the people in this scorching
heat but industry and agriculture are suffering. The policy of privatisation
has resulted in a greater outflow of profits than the Direct Foreign
Investment coming into the country. For every one dollar that comes into
Pakistan 14 dollars are taken out. Now there is not much left to privatise
and the total foreign reserves can only sustain 8 to 10 weeks of imports.
With the micro and macro indicators showing a dismal and terminally sick
economy the prospects of any social and political stability are very bleak
to say the least. This economic decline will further aggravate the crisis
resulting in greater conflagration and social convulsions. The Musharraf
regime is hanging by a thread, one push and it will fall. The Islamic
fundamentalists have been exposed, especially after the experiences of their
governments in Baluchistan and Pakhtoonkhwaa (North West Frontier Province).
The MQM's present violent acts are also the result of their desperation due
to the rapid decline in their support especially in Karachi. Being in power
at both federal and provincial levels they have totally failed to improve
the lot of the impoverished masses.
The nationalists in Sindh, Baluchistan, Pakhtoonkhwaa and other areas are
splintering and are being reduced to small sects due to their total
adherence and compliance to capitalist economics and politics. Benazir
Bhutto and the Musharraf regime have been involved in covert negotiations to
reach a deal to form a pro-American, "liberal" regime. For the time being
this deal has been buried by the explosive events in Karachi and elsewhere.
If Benazir forces the PPP into a deal with the Musharraf dictatorship this
will demoralize the party activists, but such a regime would be very short
lived. The extreme right wing in the state and establishment will not accept
her either. The overthrow of such a coalition government would be the
beginning of the end for Benazir. Already there is resentment and dismay
amongst the PPP ranks. This will explode if Benazir comes to power on the
basis of such a conciliatory set up and as the economic crisis intensifies.
The perspectives in Pakistan are complex. The state and society are riddled
with all sorts of peculiar contradictions. Reactionary forces, albeit
superficially, seem to dominate in certain spheres of society. A more
vicious and reactionary dictatorial regime is not ruled out, but even if it
should come to power it would be very short lived and crisis ridden. It
would not last long. The underlying social resentment can explode in a
proletarian upheaval as it did in 1968-69. But this time it would be on a
much higher plane and with a greater intensity. The reaction of the masses
in Karachi and throughout Pakistan in terms of spontaneous strikes shows the
potential of the movement and the wrath of the masses that is building up
against this regime and despotism in general. The picture of Pakistani
society as portrayed by the western media is not only erroneous but also
deceptive. The Pakistani proletariat can surprise the world.
When the working class moves it will be a decisive moment for the Marxists
who have become a considerable force even at the present time. If the PPP
leadership is forced to come to power through a movement that overthrows the
Musharraf regime such a movement would be pushed radically to the left from
its inception and the Marxists can become a major force during the course of
such a movement. A PPP regime on a left basis would come into conflict with
the state right from the beginning. And such a conflict could only be
resolved through a revolution or a counter-revolution.
Pakistan is a failed economy, a failed society and a failed state.
Capitalism is dragging it ruthlessly towards barbarism. Now the very
survival of society and even civilization depends on the success of a
Socialist Revolution. If the Pakistani Marxists work with dedication, and
correct strategy and tactics, a Socialist victory is entirely possible in
the wake of a mass movement of the workers and poor peasants. A successful
Socialist Revolution in Pakistan would open the floodgates of revolutionary
upheavals throughout South Asia.
Lahore, May 14, 2007

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Dukhia Das Kabir Jagey Aur Roye

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