‘Red revolution’ comes to Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Aabpara Chowk came alive with slogans of revolution once again on Sunday. But this time, it wasn’t supporters of the protesting Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) – camped out on Constitution Avenue – that were raising them.

The Awami Worker’s Party (AWP), fresh from the conclusion of their first federal congress in Islamabad, held a car rally from Zero Point to Aabpara.

Sporting the bright red flags of their party, marchers cried “-ism, -ism, socialism” from the roofs of buses.

Participants, including party workers, slum dwellers, trade unionists and students, then marched down Khayaban-i-Suharwardy, culminating at Aabpara Chowk.

Slogans of the old left, which have not been heard on the streets of Islamabad for quite some time, filled the air as AWP leaders and office-bearers took the stage.

According to a statement issued by the AWP, party president and noted jurist Abid Hassan Minto said that the Awami Workers Partyrepresented the culmination of years of struggle to resurrect the Pakistani left, and was now on its way to becoming a strong political force for socialism, equality and justice in the country.

He said that all mainstream parties (including the populist PTI and PAT) had completely neglected the working poor of the country, who were completely detached from the struggles for power that had engulfed the country in recent months.

AWP Chairman Fanoos Gujjar, who led a sizeable contingent of his supporters to the rally, said that, “Those talking about a revolution were the very classes which revolutions sought to oust,” referring to the ongoing protests at D-Chowk.

Nisar Shah, the central information secretary, spoke at length about the indictment of Baba Jan, the party’s vice president who had been booked by an anti-terrorism court on trumped-up charges.

He told Dawn that the 12 people had been illegally sentenced by an anti-terrorism court in Gilgit-Baltistan, since Pakistan’s anti-terror laws were not applicable in GB. He also called on the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of these injustices.

General Secretary Farooq Tariq said the new politics of the left had to be socialist, feminist and environmentalist. A statement quoted him as saying that, “It (is) imperative for all those interested in progressive politics to work to build an alternative left in the country”.

Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, secretary general of AWP’s Punjab wing, told Dawn that the rally, and indeed the entire movement, was focusing on bringingmore young people into the fold.

“We, who were the Cold War generation, were lost because in our youth, socialism was considered dead. Young people bring more vibrancy, more energy and update our ideas. They help us ensure that our Marxism is up to date and relevant,” he said.

Umair Javed, a party worker who came from Lahore to attend the party congress, said that the party sought to offer a single platform for progressives to engage with political issues from a leftist perspective.

Activists Bakhshal Thalho, Farzana Bari and Alia Amirali also spoke at the rally.

Hassan Belal Zaidi

Published in Dawn, September 29^th , 2014
http://www.dawn.com/news/1134994/red-revolution-comes-to-islamabad

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 The Left way: AWP vows to struggle for ‘real’ change, egalitarian society

ISLAMABAD: The Awami Workers Party (AWP) has vowed to struggle for the establishment of an egalitarian society, free from all kinds of exploitation on the basis of caste, creed, religion and gender.

The AWP passed various resolutions at the open session of its two-day federal congress here on Sunday pledging to unite all progressive forces, working class and peasants and to launch movement for real change.

“The AWP congress is taking place in an environment where millions of people were fed up with the televised squabbles of the parties representing the ruling classes abusing the narratives and slogans of the Left and have raised false hopes, because their actual agenda has nothing to do with their revolutionary rhetoric”, said a resolution.

Marking the completion of the process of the Left party building, the congress elected a 41-member federal committee and nine-member executive committee for next two years.

“The absence of a meaningful Left politics has given way to the spread of populism of the rightist parties, most recently in the form of the so-called ‘revolution’ and ‘azadi’ marches,” said AWP President Abid Hassan Minto.

He said that the AWP was formed with the objective of reviving the Leftist traditions and also inducting a new cadre of youth that can grapple with contemporary challenges and build a socialist politics for the twenty-first century.

Minto said that it was only a party that mobilised working men and women under thebanner of an anti-capitalist, anti-feudal, anti-patriarchy and anti-imperialist party that could achieve transformative change in the country.

“It is a party of the twenty-first century ready to meet the daunting challenges of neo-colonial imperialist onslaught, the control of their financial institution on our society, economy and politics, the rising extremism and social and economic crises being faced by the country,” Minto said.

He urged the party leaders and workers to be ready to counter these challenges and build the party as well as launch a struggle for the rights of the common working class people, peasants, oppressed nationals and segments of society.

AWP Vice-President Dr Farzana Bari said that the condition of the working class, oppressed nationalities, women and religious minorities has deteriorated. She asserted that only the Left has a viable programme to extricate society from the clutches of capitalism, feudalism, the military-dominated state and imperialist powers.

Other leaders of the party including secretary-general Tariq Farooq and Chairman Fanoos Gujjar said the terms ‘revolution’, ‘inqilab’ and ‘azadi’ have been thrown about recklessly, as the sit-ins led by Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri have occupied much of the country’s imagination. Can there be a true ‘revolution’ that is led by landlords, industrialists and religious clerics and devoid of organized working class participation, they questioned.

The congress, through a resolution, called for the release of AWP leader Baba Jan and eight other activists and the annulment of their sentencing of life imprisonment by an anti-terroristcourt in Gilgit. They also demanded release of the AWP leader in Sheikhupura and labour leaders in Faisalabad.

The AWP endorsed the right of independence and self-determination of all nationals includingJammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan. The congress also called for restoration of trade unions and ban on retrenchment of employees from public and private organisations.

The party also passed a resolution calling for building good relations with the neighbouring countries and making the South Asian region free from nuclear arsenal.

After the concluding session, workers of the Awami Workers Party held a rally starting fromZero Point to Aabpara Chowk. Hundreds of party workers, katchi abadi residents, trade union workers, farmers, students and women participated in the rally.

The rally was also addressed by Fanoos Gujjar, Akhtar Hussain, Robina Jameel, Bakhshal Thalho, Farooq Tariq, Aasim Sajjad, Farzana Bari, Alia Amirali, and Nisar Shah.

The party’s cultural wing presented songs, classical dance by Amna Mowaz, Areib Azhar, Ammar Rashid.

Shahzad Anwar

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2014
http://tribune.com.pk/story/768562/the-left-way-awp-vows-to-struggle-for-real-change-egalitarian-society/

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