People's Democracy

CPI(M)-CPI TEAM IN PAKISTAN 

Left Does Have Revival Potential In Pakistan 

Harkishan Singh Surjeet

SHOBHO Gyanchandani, now in his mid-nineties, is a multidimensional figure in Pakistan. He is one of the most respected Sindhi writers in the country, his book in Urdu on the history of Sindhi literature is a widely read book, and he was among the founders of the Progressive Writers Association in this part of India in the pre-partition days. At the same time, he is also a veteran of the communist movement in the country, has been involved in many a struggle, and has been to jail several times for his politics. But the repression always failed to cow him down.

THE SPIRIT IS ALIVE

SHOBHO, as he is affectionately called, does not believe that his religion has anything to do with his nationality. He symbolises whatever is best in the syncretic culture of Sindh. When he was put behind bars soon after the partition, the new rulers of the newly created country gave him the option that charges against him might be withdrawn and he might be released from jail provided he agreed to migrate to India. But Shobho refused point blank. His curt reply was that he was prepared to remain in jail; he only wanted that it should be some jail in Sindh. 
  
And just imagine, this very man, now approaching 95, came down all the way from Larkana to Karachi to meet his comrades from India! If I was feeling overwhelmed over meeting such a comrade after a gap of 58 long years, I could well imagine how Shobho must have felt after meeting me. 
  
Earlier I said that Shobho symbolises whatever is best in the syncretic culture of Sindh. Let me now add that he also symbolises what is best in the communist movement in Pakistan and the subcontinent. 
  
Shobho’s journey to Karachi to meet us also epitomises the current situation of the communist movement in Pakistan --- stressing that the spirit of the movement is still alive. Despite all the repression, decimation, setbacks and desertions.   

And it is not that veterans like Shobho Gyanchandani are the only ones to uphold the Red Flag in the country. They are of course there to guide the new generations. But one has also to take note of the fact that all over Pakistan thousands of new, young cadres --- born in the post-partition days --- have come up or are coming up to join the movement. They are no doubt very weak, their number is too small in comparison to the requirement of the situation, they are resourceless, and they are constantly under the threat that the current period of reprieve for political activity may abruptly end any time. Moreover, despite the current period of reprieve at the national or provincial level, these Left cadres have to face powerful adversaries at the grassroots --- the Waderas of Sindh, the Meers of the NWFP, the Chaudharis of Punjab and the Sardars of Balochistan. These powerful landed interests are so dead against the communist movement that they can go to any extent of barbarity to decimate it. Thus, if the cadres have come forward to join the movement despite knowing what perils they have to face, it means they are mentally prepared to meet any eventuality. 
  
The spirit is still alive! There is no doubt about it. 
  
PERIOD OF REPRIEVE 

NEEDLESS to say, if I say that the spirit of the movement is alive in Pakistan, this also means that the first and the minimal condition for a regeneration of the movement is there. To this, one may add that the current period of reprieve that is there in Pakistan for political work, is a positive factor in favour of the movement and has to be made use of, to the fullest extent possible. 
  
This is not to harbour any illusion about the intentions of the ruling classes in the country. The fact is that it is the domestic and international compulsions that have made the rulers of Pakistan allow political activity on a limited scale. But still there are powerful elements in the civil society as well as in the army and ISI who would like to see an end to this limited political freedom as well. The situation is, thus, still uncertain. And if the current reprieve ends, it means the movement in the country will have to undergo a period of repression once again. 
  
This underlines the fact that the Left movement in the country not only needs to make fullest possible use of the current reprieve. At the same time, the movement must also be able to evolve suitable and elastic tactics that may steer it in the current situation and in any adverse situation that may come up later. And we do hope, rather we are confident, that our Pakistani comrades will be able to do it. 

INDO-PAK RELATIONS

YET another positive factor in favour of the movement in Pakistan is the thaw that characterises the current stage of Indo-Pak relations. The general and fundamental position for a Marxist is that good-neighbourly relations between the toiling people of any two countries are always a vital necessity for the growth of the movement. But this holds exceptionally good for the movement in India and Pakistan which have been at loggerheads for decades.
  
Our comrades in Pakistan know it only too well. As we said last week, the vested interests in that country have always been raising anti-India sentiments to tide over the discontent resulting from their policies. Eager to divert attention from their own follies, these interests have been seeking to exploit the mass sentiment on one issue or another and have used the resultant mass mood to decimate the Left on the one hand and marginalise the liberals on the other. 
  
It is in such a situation that Indo-Pak dialogue has already made some headway and promises to still go miles ahead. But it is no fortuitous development; one of the powerful factors behind it is the growing realisation on part of the people of both India and Pakistan that they are after all the only losers in the decades long Indo-Pak tussle. The ruling classes of the two countries have gained, imperialist powers abroad have gained, but the people have lost. Another aspect of the same realisation is that this tussle may go on endlessly if nothing is done about it, that things like nuclear brinkmanship will only worsen it, and that mutual peaceful negotiations are the only way to break the ice. This also vindicates our position that the improvements must not remain confined to politicians and bureaucrats of the two countries; rather the involvement of an increasing number of people is a must to give the ongoing negotiations a solid and lasting footing.
  
Yet it would be wrong to take the process for granted; it may still encounter many hurdles. The common feeling in Pakistan is that bureaucracy in the two countries is feeling somewhat uneasy about the pace of improvement, and is of the opinion that relations must improve but not that fast. Moreover, there are reasons to believe that the ruling classes in Pakistan, particularly the landlords, are not happy with the improvement, and the same may be said about sections in the army and ISI. The merits of the issues apart, a section of the media was still trying to incite passions on certain issues when we were in Pakistan. An example is the statement that a war may be needed to solve the Baglihar issue. The role of a Pakistani actress in a Bollywood film was another such issue, with the demand that Pakistani actors and more so the actresses must not be allowed to work “in Indian films.”   

Right now, the pressure of mass opinion is such that these elements are constrained to keep a low profile. Let me quote an instance we were told. Four years ago, fundamentalists had their tents along the Mall Road in Lahore (where we recently stayed) and carried open anti-India propaganda from there. Also, many persons including women used to make donations to these groups. But there was nothing of the sort when we were there; most people are not even willing to listen to these groups. Yet, if the rulers of India and Pakistan do not tread the ground with caution, it is only such forces that would gain an upper hand --- here or there. 
  
In such a situation, it is in its own interest that the movement in Pakistan take up a pro-active stand in favour of Indo-Pak betterment, which has the potential to deprive the hawks in the country of a potent weapon to rouse base passions. 

NO DEARTH OF ISSUES 

IT is not that the Left in Pakistan has any dearth of issues. The reality is that there are a number of issues that are agitating the public mind but which the so-called mainstream parties, bogged down with their own class interests, have been unable to raise or have been simply unwilling to raise. 
  
One such issue is that of karokari, which I referred to in an earlier article. This is an inhuman custom in which a woman is declared a karo (characterless), often arbitrarily, is stoned to death and is even deprived of the right of honourable last rites; her body is simply dragged out of the habitation and left somewhere for animals to devour. This issue is haunting Pakistani women and all progressive sections, but the so-called mainstream parties take it as a hot potato. During the recent discussion on it in National Assembly (February 27), treasury benches did not show the courage to stand up to fundamentalists; rather the two aligned to get the bill moved by a ruling party member defeated. Nor was the plight of the PPP any better; there were sharp divisions in its ranks on the issue. 
  
It is true that this particular custom is not there in all parts of the country, but the status of women is pitiable all over. There is a custom in some parts of Sindh to marry girls to the Holy Book, just like the custom of devadasis in some parts of India. Many Pakistanis resort to it to deprive their sisters or other female relatives of their shares in property. Women are arbitrarily being dubbed “characterless” and murdered with impunity in the tribal belts of the NWFP; and the dreaded tribal chiefs and their relatives are the biggest criminals. Raising the women’s issues in a big way may go a long way in earning popular support for the Left.   

Land reforms may be another big issue. While we in India had a semblance of land reforms in the 1950s, Pakistan is deprived of even similar limited measures. Thus, landlords still dominate the national life, with all its disastrous consequences. The need is of radical land reforms, break-up of big landed estates and distribution of land gratis among poor peasants and agricultural workers. (Many of the latter are bonded labourers, particularly in Sindh.) This is essential to break the vicious stranglehold of feudal lords and allow for industrial development. In case of Jatoi, the biggest landlord of the country, as many as seven railway stations are adjacent to his estate and a canal passes by it. The landlords have adopted two major tactics to protect their property: one, they have got issued from the clergy an edict that land reforms are “anti-Islamic” and, secondly, they have converted the army’s top brass into landlords --- Give them land and they will protect our lands! Of late, finding himself in a shaky position, Musharraf has sought to broaden the base by inducting the air force and navy brass also among the beneficiaries of his largesse.      

Restoration of democracy in the country and reinstatement of the 1973 constitution with its list of democratic rights is yet another big issue in the country. 

HOPES FOR THE FUTURE

HENCE it is certain that if the Left braces itself for the tasks ahead and vigorously campaigns on the broader as well as sectional issues facing the people, it can register revival and overcome the obstacles that may come its way. 
  
During our stay in Pakistan, we also had an inkling of certain subjective weaknesses gripping the Left formations. For example, a section of the Left seems to have developed a childish infatuation for armed struggle, without realising that it requires that the movement must have reached a certain stage. Similarly, another section seems to be oblivious of the Marxist-Leninist theory that revolution proceeds in stages; it is another thing that depending upon several factors the transition from a democratic revolution to a socialist revolution may be smooth in certain cases. Now, there is no point in discussing what would happen in the stage of a socialist revolution, without taking note of what one has to do today. Needless to say, the Left has to speedily overcome such weaknesses. 
  
Extreme fragmentation has been the biggest bane of Left politics in Pakistan, and personal ambitions, often in ideological garb, have also taken their toll. As The Dawn editorially commented on March 7, “The charge that the leftists spent more time in woolly-headed arguments in coffee houses than in serious discussion on organisation and policy goals was not entirely without substance.” The comment assumes significance in view of the note it takes of the decades of repression against the Left and of the “continued onslaught on Left and liberal elements by the right wing media.” It also says that though “all political parties suffered” under decades of military rule, the Left suffered more “because of its basic lack of organisation and inability to mobilise committed cadres.”   

Here, we can only say on the basis of our experience in India that charting out a common course of action on the basis of a set of issues may go a long way in overcoming the personal ambitions, bringing the Left parties still closer and giving the movement an organisational base. What The Dawn editorial says in general terms, may be all the more true for the Left in Pakistan: “The mainstream parties have been so trapped in the power game that many problems that affect the lives of ordinary people have been ignored. There’s space for a broad front of enlightened, committed political and social activists…… The public response might surprise everyone.”