PAKISTAN VISIT

CPI(M)-CPI Delegation Generates Refreshing Wind

 Harkishan Singh Surjeet

THE recent visit of the first ever communist delegation to Pakistan after India’s vivisection in 1947 was described as “historic” by every section of the Pakistan society --- by the media, by the intelligentsia, by common citizens, and by the Left circles in the country. Not only that the visit gave me --- personally --- a chance to meet some of the old, surviving friends and re-live my days in that part of the world; it also helped us and the Left in Pakistan to learn something from each other. It was therefore natural that the delegation was enthusiastically greeted wherever it went.

It won’t be an exaggeration to say that no other Indian delegation to Pakistan in recent times attracted so much attention as the CPI(M)-CPI delegation did. It was not without reason that leaders of the Pakistan government --- President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Qasuri --- made it a point to meet the delegation leaders.

Invited by the Joint Left Front (JLF) of Pakistan, which comprises the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP), Communist Mazdoor Kisan Party (CMKP) and Labour Party of Pakistan (LPP), the delegation --- led by me and CPI general secretary A B Bardhan --- reached Lahore on February 24 evening and left Karachi for Delhi on March 4 morning. Leaders of the National Workers Party (NWP) also came to meet us and held a reception to the delegation at the Tajmahal Reception Hall, just opposite the Qazzafi Stadium in Lahore, on February 27.

POLITICAL SITUATION

THIS CPI(M)-CPI delegation visited Pakistan at a time when the whole society and politics there are going through a critical phase. As we know, the military establishment in Pakistan had since long been supporting the fundamentalist forces and terrorist groups who were created and/or backed by US imperialists. However, ultimately the dialectic of development brought the situation to such a pass that these very elements turned inimical to their masters, and the US imperialists declared a so-called “war against terror.” It is another thing that, to be true to facts, the slogan is being used more as a ploy to declare a war against or intimidate certain sovereign countries that are not amenable to the US’s hegemonistic designs.

The current plight of the Pakistan government reflects the tragedy. Compelled by the US and to keep the latter in good humour, Pakistan had had to allow a transit route and refuelling facilities to the US warplanes for their bombing campaign in Afghanistan. But this only incensed the fundamentalist forces who began to bay for Musharraf’s blood. The general thinking in Pakistan these days is that President Pervez Musharraf has been caught between the devil and the deep sea, is forced to do some tight-rope walking, and nobody is sure as to what would happen when. Recently, in the National Assembly on February 27, the government ganged up with the opposition Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a joint body of six fundamentalist outfits, to defeat a private member’s bill demanding an end to the inhuman custom of karokari (killing a woman in the name of honour). This was not simply because feudal lords dominate the ruling as well as opposition parties. (There was a division among even the PPP benches on the question.) In the public perception in Pakistan, it was also because the government was not willing to annoy the fundamentalists on this issue, even though the member who moved the bill belonged to the ruling Muslim League (Qaid-e-Azam).  

On the other hand, if democracy could not strike deep roots in Pakistan as it did in the Indian Union, it was not only that the military did not like a democratic regime. An equally if not more important cause was that the Pakistani political parties did not display maturity or a democratic sense, and that their own actions and corruption provided undue justification to the military take-over every time. 

In such a situation, it was only natural that all the regimes in Pakistan, civilian or military, took resort to emotional issues in order to keep the mass discontent in check. Inciting feelings against India on one or another pretext has been one such tactic; it is another thing that the people of Pakistan have now well understood the reality of this game and are strongly in favour of increasingly improving the Indo-Pak ties. 

HEALTHY INDICATION

BE that as it may, such a political situation, coupled with the earlier repressive measures including the cooked-up Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case (1951-55), virtually decimated the once vibrant communist movement in Pakistan. And to crown the tragedy, the CPP failed to evolve a suitable tactic to tide over this crisis and intervene in the developing situation. In its stead, it got mired in endless squabbles on personal and ideological grounds, as was reflected in the equally endless series of splits, mergers, re-splits and re-mergers. This situation was fully utilised by the class enemies in the country, mainly the feudal lords and their spokesmen among the intelligentsia and in the clergy who even declared land reforms as “anti-Islamic.” On the other side of the spectrum, some of the party supporters and cadres defected to the enemy side, many simply got inactive, and others joined the media, NGOs, etc.

This created a really tragic situation for the Left in Pakistan and has been a cause of concern for their well-wishers abroad.

Yet, there are now efforts on part of splintered Left groups to pull their resources together and project a viable alternative to both the military rule and the so-called mainstream parties while joining any move aimed at restoration of democracy in the country. True, there are serious differences between the Left parties and groups on several ideological and tactical questions. These parties and groups are of various hues; some of them are Trotskyite while some groups are even thinking in terms of armed struggle as a more or less immediate possibility. But the desire to come together and evolve a unified fighting force is quite visible. The formation of the Joint Left Front in recent past is a manifestation of this very desire. While some of the Left groups are supporting the Musharraf regime on the plea that fundamentalists would take over in case this regime gets weakened, the JLF is the formation of three parties who are opposed to the regime.  

Though the functioning of the three parties comprising the JLF leaves much to be desired, it is hoped that the formation of the JLF would in itself act as a catalytic agent and help bring together all such leftist elements who are scattered or lying dormant. This is thus a healthy indication for the future, and the wellwishers of our Pakistani brethren do hope that the process of unification would go still further, so as to ultimately evolve a viable class alternative in the country.

This cannot be said to be a pipe dream. The reason is that even though the Left is fragmented in Pakistan, it still has some valuable resources at its command. The first thing is the widespread desire among the people for a democratic change and for a positive change in their socio-economic life. Secondly, even if fragmented, the Left has a good cadre base in most parts of the country. Numerically speaking, this cadre base is still very small in comparison to the requirements of the situation, but these cadres and supporters are committed to the core. To take an example, the CPP is not in a position today to support a single wholetimer but yet, because of their commitment, leaders and cadres of the party never hesitate to empty their pockets whenever the party decides to undertake some task. The same is true for other parties of the JLF.

At the same time, progressive intelligentsia and intellectuals are still Left-oriented by and large and, given a non-sectarian approach towards them, they may definitely be developed into valuable assets for the movement. In sum, there do exist factors that are favourable for a revival of the Left movement in the country.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

IT was in such a situation that the first ever CPI(M)-CPI delegation reached Pakistan and was received with fervour and enthusiasm. And this fervour was itself a reflection of the desire for a positive change in the country and for a regrouping of the Left forces. The fact is that the Indian Left commands immense prestige in Pakistan, as in other parts of the world, and its present position in Lok Sabha (from where it can influence, to an extent, the UPA government’s policies) has generated great expectations among the people of Pakistan, as of India. To put it in passing, if General Musharraf, his prime minister and foreign minister were eager to meet us, it was because of their hope that we of the Left would be helpful in smoothening the ongoing process of Indo-Pak dialogue.

In sum, a desire to come together already pervades the Left circles and other pro-change forces in the country, and what they lack is suitable guidance for the purpose. This they were seeking from their Indian comrades.

Yet, true to our understanding on the issue of party to party relations, we made it clear to our Pakistani comrades that the Indian parties cannot decide the course of action for them. Insofar as the situation in Pakistan is concerned, it is they who are closer to their reality, it is they who have to analyse their reality and it is they who have to decide their strategy and tactics for their revolution. Adhering to Comrade Lenin’s teachings, a communist party always functions on the basis of a “concrete analysis of concrete situation,” and this is what the Pakistani comrades will have to do in order to proceed further in their revolutionary work.        

Needless to say, however, this does not preclude the possibility or necessity of mutual exchange of ideas and experiences, and we got ample opportunity for such exchanges while in Pakistan.

Our visit to Pakistan has been quite fruitful and successful from this point of view. The crowds of party cadres who came to welcome us at the Allama Iqbal International Airport of Lahore or at the Jinnah International Airport of Karachi, and of those who participated in the JLF meetings that we addressed in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi and other places, testified to the warm fraternal feelings the Pakistani comrades have for their comrades in India. And the big fact is that none of the delegation, or among the media team that accompanied us, felt anywhere that they were in an alien country. By the way, this is true not only of the Leftists in India and Pakistan; it is equally true of the common people of the two countries.  

It was therefore not surprising that the delegation’s visit to Pakistan brought about some positive results from the Left point of view. Here we can cite the example of the mass meeting held at Karachi Press Club on March 3 evening --- the last but one of the programmes held in the country before we proceeded back to India. Organised by the JLF and Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ), not only was this meeting a big one in view of the Left strength in the country; a significant factor was that this was attended by a large number of people who had become inactive years back. The very news that an Indian communist delegation was about to visit Pakistan brought these people again in touch with the JLF constituents.

Similarly, while still in Karachi, we were informed that our visit has created a sort of refreshing wind in the North West Frontier Province and that many former Left cadres and supporters have again come in touch with the JLF constituents. The leaders of these parties are now gripped with the problem of how to consolidate this newly created fervour.

The Left circles in Pakistan are also of the view that any betterment in the Indo-Pak ties would benefit them, along with the common mass of the two countries. Such betterment, for one thing, would deprive the hawks of an opportunity to incite passions in order to marginalise the progressive, liberal and democratic elements in society. As for us, contributing to the process of Indo-Pak friendship, in the mutual interest of the two countries and their people, was also one of the important aims of our visit, and this we did to whatever extent and in whichever way we could. But more about this next week.