posted 31 Mar 2010, 09:10 by Admin uk
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updated 6 Apr 2010, 16:22
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Preliminary notes on errors and falisfications in the document are presented below are in red
The following article was posted on Marxist.com today. It contains many slanderous and libelous allegations against the work of comrade Ch. Manzoor Ahmed head of the Peoples' Labour Bureau in Pakistan. These comrades see fit to praise a comrade as a hero one day, and condemn him as corrupt the next, without feeling the slightest need to prove any of their allegations. This is part of a general trend inside the IMT to replaceevidence with assertion and claim that assertion is the same as proof.
This same method of replacing evidence with assertion has become the norm in the development of the IMT's so called 'Marxist theories'. One can observe this for example in relation to the class character of China; the causes of capitalist crisis; the character of unrest in Iran and the character of recent unrest in Pakistan. This is concrete evidence of intellectual degeneration at the heart of the IMT leadership.
It is important for each and every false statement concerning Manzoor and the Pakistani opposition to be answered and refuted, so we are republishing this statement from Marxist.com as evidence of the degeneration in the methods of the leadership of the IMT . Please take the time to read all the slanders made and then watch the detailed rebuttal by comrade Ch. Manzoor Ahmed on all the issues. This will be published here over the next few days.
One of the last questions I asked Manzoor in Islamabad last week was, "are you prepared to debate with Alan Woods and Lal Khan on these issues?" Manzoor welcomed the call for such an open debate. So Alan Woods and Lal Khan, you can consider that a formal invitation! Call such a meeting open to all comrades in Pakistan from the official group of the IMT and the Left Opposition! Let us record this meeting and circulate it on video and have it subtitled in all the languages of the International. Or are you cowards?
Written by the EC of The Struggle
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
The work of the Pakistani Marxists of The Struggle has been
noted, both by our friends in the labour movement and also our enemies.
The work has been extremely successful. Unfortunately, in the course of
building a principled Marxist tendency, some comrades can fall victims
of opportunist adaptation. This is the case of former IMT member and
ex-member of the National Assembly, Manzoor Ahmed. In this Statement of
the EC of The Struggle we set the record straight on what happened.
[Editor’s introductory note:
Our ex-comrade Manzoor Ahmed, after years of defending a genuine
revolutionary policy, unfortunately eventually drifted in an
opportunist direction and broke with the The Struggle and the
IMT. He has adapted to the bourgeois leadership of the PPP and is now
putting forward a position we cannot support in any manner whatsoever.
It is necessary to set the record straight for all our readers and
supporters, which we do by publishing the following statement of the
leadership of The Struggle.]
For many years the Pakistani Marxists of The Struggle have
been working in the PPP, a party that has a mass following among the
workers and peasants, although its leading layer is composed mainly of
bourgeois and feudal elements. It goes without saying that in Pakistan,
as in all other countries, the aim of the Marxist tendency is to win
over the workers and peasants. This requires an implacable and
unceasing struggle against the corrupt bourgeois and feudal elements in
the leadership.
There is always a danger in work in mass reformist organizations
that comrades will come under the pressure of the bureaucracy and alien
ideas. The history of the international labour movement is full of
examples of honest militants who have been bought off by the
bureaucracy, renouncing their principles in return for the “fruits of
office”. There is nothing so damaging, nothing that so harms the cause
of socialism and the working class, than the spectacle of former
revolutionaries allowing themselves to be bought and absorbed into the
bureaucratic apparatus. That is why it is necessary to apply strict
measures of control.
There is no place in the ranks of the International Marxist Tendency
for careerists and opportunists who seek to further their own
positions. Any comrade who stands for public office or takes positions
in the labour and trade union movement can only do so with the
agreement of the tendency and under the strict control of its leading
bodies. These are basic principles of our movement and are well known.
These measures are a thousand times more necessary in Pakistan,
where politics are extremely corrupt. The overwhelming majority of
political leaders see politics as a means of enriching themselves. It
is well known that members of the same wealthy families stand as
candidates for the PPP and the Muslim League in order to ensure that
the family will keep control of a lucrative political position.
Ministers use their office to enrich themselves through bribes and the
sale of contracts, and give jobs to their friends and relatives.
This is true Pakistan suffers from serious corruption, but is this not also true of Venezuela? And to a significant extent any capitalist or stalinist state.
In the Global Corruption index 2009 Venezuela ranks 158th out of 180 countries and Pakistan ranks 134th out of 180 countries. So why is Pakistan singled out by the IMT comrades as requiring " a thousand times more necessary in Pakistan" control against corruption than any other country? Why are the same cautious words not used about Venezuela's leadership as of Manzoor who holds no government offices?
When former comrade Manzoor Ahmed won the election in Kasur in 2002,
this was a great victory for the Pakistan Marxists. The campaign was
organized by The Struggle, and was run on clear revolutionary
class lines. Against all the odds, Manzoor defeated the candidates of
the right wing. At the time he said “this was not my victory, but a
victory for the whole organization, for the whole International.” That
was the truth.
In the days of Militant, when we had three MPs in the British
parliament, the national centre was based in London and could maintain
regular contact. The MPs had a full time staff composed of Marxist
cadres nominated by the tendency. We had the position “a workers’ MP on
a worker’s wage.” Even so, it was not always possible to exercise
complete control.
The case of Pakistan was very different. The Struggle did
not possess 200 full time workers, as the Militant had. The National
Assembly is based in Islamabad, 200 miles from the national centre of The Struggle
in Lahore. Also, given the starvation wages in Pakistan, it was
unrealistic to pose strictly the question of “a workers’ MP on a
worker’s wage.” Manzoor also followed the bad tradition of employing
members of his family as his staff. Nevertheless, while he was in the
National Assembly (NA), Manzoor generally followed the revolutionary
line of the tendency and as a result got good results.
Marxists neither reject parliamentary work nor exaggerate its
importance. It is just another area of revolutionary work that can be
very useful as a platform. It must be borne in mind that at this time
the PPP was in opposition, Benazir Bhutto (BB) was in exile, and the
PPP bureaucracy was quite weak. This permitted the Marxists a fairly
broad scope for agitation both inside and outside the NA. Needless to
say, the latter was always far more important for us than the former.
The situation changed abruptly after the return of BB in October
2007. As we had predicted, she was greeted by millions of workers and
peasants who came out onto the streets. Such a development took all the
other Left groups completely by surprise. They were confused, isolated
and impotent. By contrast, the Marxists of The Struggle were
fighting shoulder to shoulder with the masses. We participated in the
mass demonstrations, but shouting revolutionary class slogans and
burning American flags (something completely contrary to the wishes of
Benazir Bhutto and the other PPP leaders).
The Pakistan ruling class and the imperialists saw the danger. They
were not at all afraid of BB, but they were terrified of the masses who
were brought to their feet by the return of the PPP leader and were
flocking to the banner of the PPP. This is what led to her
assassination, which in turn provoked a mass uprising, which paralysed
the country for days. The very scale of the movement made it impossible
for a group of a couple of thousand to have any effect, and it
degenerated into rioting (not without the aid of the agents of the
Pakistan state).
Rigged elections
This was followed by elections, which were massively rigged. This
time the Marxists had three candidates: Manzoor in Kasur, comrade Riaz
Lund in Karachi and comrade Ali Wazir in Waziristan, the tribal area on
the Afghan border, where war is raging. In the last-named region the
result of the vote was never announced. In Karachi, comrade Riaz Lund
received a record result – 46,080 votes but the authorities rigged the
election, handing the seat to the fascist MQM.
In all cases, the candidates of The Struggle were asked to
fight the election on the basis of the policies of revolutionary
socialism. In two cases this was done, even in Waziristan, where
comrade Ali Wazir risked his life and was forced to flee for a time to
Peshawar to escape the death threats of the Taliban. In Karachi, too,
comrade Riaz Lund received death threats from the MQM, who had
attempted to kill him in the past. These comrades did not flinch from
their revolutionary obligations.
One of the so called revolutionary obligations was to have the slogan "irreconcilible struggle until socialist revolution" on their posters. Even the most obscure sectarian group knows that that slogan is somewhat empty and infantile. It has no concrete content to it for the mass of voters. It is not accidental that the Russian revolution took place under the slogans "land bread and peace".
In the case of Kasur, however, things were not so clear. Initially, MA agreed to stand on the programme of The Struggle,
but as the campaign continued, it became increasingly clear that the
comrade was making political concessions in order to win the election.
MA wanted a “broad-based” campaign. He objected to the word socialism
being used in any of his campaign material and, unlike the previous
campaign, he did not refer to it in his speeches.
Manzoor wanted to win the election at all costs and was afraid of
losing the support of the small businessmen, landlords and traders of
Kasur. In his programme he included the demand for the setting up of a chamber of commerce in Kasur.
This caused considerable discontent among the comrades in Kasur. Many
decided to abandon work in this constituency in disgust. It is not
clear that he would have won in any case, because the situation was not
as favourable as last time. But it is clear that, with an opportunist
policy, he lost the election in a constituency that he had won in 2002
when the campaign was organized by the IMT comrades on a revolutionary
socialist programme.
In the days of the Militant in Britain our tendency ran the anti-poll tax campaign. Although Terry Fields MP was sent to jail for non payment of the poll tax, Dave Nellist MP was not. Alan Woods told me in 1991 "look we paid their poll tax" in secret in order not to endanger their positions. I am not sure if this was for both these MP's or if it was just for their London addresses but, Alan certainly insisted that this was the case.
The articles published on marxist.com regarding the election
campaign made no mention of this at the time because it was never the
IMT’s method to make public criticisms of comrades. At that time
Manzoor was still part of the IMT and we hoped that we could convince
him of his errors through comradely discussion. Also we did not realize
to what extent he would go in his opportunism. After the election,
comrade Alan Woods telephoned Manzoor from London to express his
solidarity, and he reported to us that he thought that MA was
“completely shattered” and expressed some concern about his morale. By
contrast, the other two candidates were in good spirits. They
understood that the elections were rigged and that being defeated in
such an election was of no real importance.
Could we have foreseen Manzoor’s betrayal? Having set the scene, Pakistan is corrupt, we are revolutionary, manzoor did not want to shout ultra-left slogans, you speak with no evidence of "betrayal". It is always easy to see
things clearly with the wisdom of hindsight. It is certainly true that
there were signs of weakness on Manzoor’s part even before this. There
were some complaints that his parliamentary residence in Islamabad was
being improperly used by his friends and members of family. Some
comrades complained of his arrogance and lack of consideration to other
comrades. But at the time the faults some people detected seemed
relatively minor.
Paradoxically, the person who made the most insistent accusations
was precisely comrade Sajjad Mehdi, who is now Manzoor’s main agent and
is organizing his campaign of disinformation internationally. So bad
were relations between the two men that one year before the elections,
they were not speaking to each other and Sajjad was threatening to
leave the organization in protest at Manzoor’s behaviour. Only through
the personal intervention of comrades Alan and Ana from London did we
manage to heal the breach.
Mehdi accused Manzoor of an arrogant attitude and careerist
aspirations. He said that he treated the rank and file comrades with
contempt and was not prepared to listen to anybody or accept the
discipline of the organization. We did not consider that such
accusations were soundly based and attributed them to jealousy and
other petty personal considerations. Even if they had some substance,
such faults were far outweighed by the comrade’s good political work in
the National Assembly. That is how we saw it at the time. Now Mehdi has
changed his opinion of Manzoor completely. We would very much like to
know the reason.
The two last paragraphs are meanlingless tittle tattle.
Zardari’s intrigues
As a result of the serious work of the Pakistani Marxists over many
years, the Marxist Tendency was in a very strong position. This was
known to the PPP leaders, who now had to form a government. After the
assassination of BB, her husband, Zardari, took over the leadership.
This man, now president of Pakistan, was sent to prison for corruption.
He is commonly known in Pakistan as “Mr. Ten Percent” for the huge sums
he got for “commission” under previous PPP governments. Zardari was
well aware of the danger posed by The Struggle when the PPP right-wing leaders came to power. He therefore decided to try to get control of The Struggle and looked around for a weak link in its leadership. Unfortunately, he found it in Manzoor.
The Pakistani section for a long time had sought to gain the leading positions within the Peoples' Labour Bureau, Lal Khan congratulated Manzoor on attaining the positions. Alan Woods even supported the idea of Manzoor taking a Ministerial position at the IEC meeting.
Having lost his parliamentary position, the latter was desperate to
recover some kind of leading position. Partly this was dictated by
considerations of personal prestige and injured pride, partly by
economic considerations and family pressures. He used his previous
authority as a Left to establish covert contacts with Zardari and
became a part of the coterie surrounding the PPP leader. The plan was
to use our organization to give a left cover to the right-wing,
anti-working class policies the right-wing PPP regime was to embark
upon at the behest of US imperialism.
The unproven allegations are already accepted as fact and simply filled in with invented motives. Zardari is defined as a right-wing government, if the PPP is a "right-wing" "regime" what was the Musharraf dictatorship?
Zardari was only too pleased to offer him such a position, which he
accepted immediately. At no time did he consult the Tendency or request
its permission to take this position. Let us be clear on this question.
It is one thing for a Marxist to stand in a parliamentary election,
with the agreement of the Tendency, and be elected democratically by
the workers and peasants on the basis of an openly revolutionary class
position. It is another thing altogether to accept behind closed doors
an unelected position in a right-wing leadership behind the backs of
the Tendency.
I repeat the Tendency had for a long time coveted the role of leading the Peoples' Labour Bureau, this was in no way "behind the back of the Tendency".So this is a direct lie.Andy Bevan was employed by the Labour Party, with the Labour Party workers protesting against this, with the full support of the leaders of the IMT. Indeed the full time workers even inside the IMT are all appointed positions!
By taking such a step Manzoor perpetrated a grave breach of
discipline and violated the most elementary positions of the IMT
concerning the taking of positions. What was the reaction of the
Pakistan Marxist tendency? They did not expel him or take any
disciplinary action – which they were entitled to do. They attempted to convince him with patient argument that he had made a mistake.
They begged him not to accept Zardari’s offer. But he was deaf to all
these pleas. He had already made up his mind to put his personal
interests and prestige before those of the Tendency.
After all the personal discussions and appeals proved to be
fruitless, an internal debate on Manzoor’s position started in the
Pakistan leadership (at this stage the International leadership was not
involved). More and more comrades became concerned at the situation.
The Central Committee agreed with Manzoor, so Lal Khan went to get help from Alan Woods and the International Secretariat in London without informing the Pakistani comrades what he was doing.
Eventually, the International was informed, and recommended further
discussions with him. At this stage there was no question of taking
disciplinary measures. In order to save a comrade who had done good
work in the past, we were prepared to accept a compromise: depending on
the nature of the post, he could accept, on condition that his work
came under the strict control of the leading bodies of the Tendency. We
also asked him not to make any public statements that would be
detrimental to the cause of Marxism.
In words Manzoor said he would accept this, but in practice he did
not. He accepted a position in the People’s Secretariat in Islamabad, a
place that is notoriously associated with the distribution of positions
and contracts (that is, corruption). So the position of head of Peoples' Labour Bureau was not a position that it was principally wrong to accept! What is the specific nature of the so called corruption that Manzoor is alleged to have engaged in through his position in the Peoples' Secretariat? Where is your evidence for this corruption? You have none! None of his work was discussed on
the leading bodies. It was very difficult even to reach him by phone.
He was always “too busy”. Manzoor being "busy" is apparently the only thing you have as concete evidence of his crimes.
Coalition (class collaboration) politics
The position in the country was disastrous: price hikes,
unemployment, poverty, electricity, water and gas shortages,
redundancies, privatizations and other factors have created a situation
for the working masses that is unprecedented in the history of
Pakistan. The PPP leaders, by basing themselves on bankrupt Pakistan
capitalism, were compelled to start a series of attacks on the working
class. To make matters worse, Zardari promised the Americans total
submission that even Musharraf was incapable of providing. This regime
has given all-out and blind support to the imperialist aggression that
has killed thousands of people in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Did the PPP only carry out attacks on the workers? Were wages raised? Were unions legalised? Were workers on day wages regularised? Did Manzoor and the Peoples' Labour Bureau assist this process? This is all well documented so why do you present the PPP solely as a right wing government? Is the Conservative Party in Britain a "right wing" party and the Labour Party that "has given all-out and blind support to the imperialist aggression" also simply a right wing regime? Is this your new line?Or is the British Labour Party treated in a different fashion, if so why?
What was the position of Manzoor? He not only shamelessly supported
these policies but covered up for the massive corruption Zardari and
his cronies were involved in. He has repeatedly praised Zardari in the
press and television and uncritically supported his policies. The
Zardari government carried out a right-wing, pro-capitalist and
pro-imperialist policy from the very beginning. The PPP leaders entered
a coalition government with the right-wing Muslim League, which we had
also predicted in advance. We said that the PPP leaders would need such
a coalition as a cover for carrying out unpopular policies.
Is this really true? Or did Manzoor continue to advocate socialism whilst supporting the PPP government. Supporting the government for each step it took to defend the rights of the workers and opposing the government for each step it took against the workers? Is that not the correct method to deal with the PPP in power immediately after a right military police dictatorship lost power?
Our policy was quite clear: “Break the coalition! Carry out the founding programme of the PPP!”
Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the right-wing Muslim League, was smart
enough to realize that he would be better off in opposition, and he
broke the coalition himself. What was the position of Manzoor? He urged the right wing to join the coalition with the PPP.He publicly appealed to the leaders of the Muslim League to “accept their responsibility” and rejoin the coalition!
This was an opportunist betrayal and represented public support for the
class collaborationist policies of Zardari and the other right-wing
leaders of the PPP.
These positions were brought to the notice of the leadership of the
IMT in a meeting in July 2008. The IS was already partly aware of the
situation due to their visits to Pakistan and some of the press reports
they had seen in Europe. Still we were hoping to retrieve something and
save Manzoor for the Tendency. However, the situation was going from
bad to worse.
Since when did Marxists judge their own comrades on the basis of press reports from newspapers hostile to the Labour Movement? Did we judge Derek Hatton and the Liverpool councillors from the endless reports of corruption published in the Liverpool Echo between 1985-1987, or the BBC, or TV stations, or the Murdoch Press?Should one not be weary and distrustful of the veracity of reports in the bourgeois press against leaders of our own tendency and the wider workers movement? Surely "these measures are a thousand times more necessary in Pakistan,
where politics are extremely corrupt"???
The telecommunications strike
Regarding the following statements on the strike. These videos answer all the main points below.
Interview with leader of strike part1
Interview with leader of strike part 4
Interview with leader of strike part 5
Interview with leader of strike part 6
Interview with leader of strike part 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv0GfRT20xE
A turning point was the conduct of Manzoor in the telecommunications
strike of 2008. In a shameful betrayal of the struggle of Pakistan
Telecommunications (PTCL), who were fighting for temporary workers to
be made full-time, he called on telecommunications workers to go back
to work, claiming that a good deal had been struck, and that the
government had signed an agreement with the unions. That was a lie. It
effectively broke the strike, with some workers returning to work and
others staying out.
As soon as the strikers began to go back to work, the government
immediately stationed army units in the telecom depots, instituted a
lock out, made wide scale arrests of striking workers, sacked over 30
leading telecom activists from their jobs, and ensured the temporary
banning of trade unions within PTCL. It is rumoured that Zardari
extracted a huge sum from the multinational to which this profitable
institution was privatized. There is no way of proving this, but it
would be entirely in line with the past history of Mr. Ten Percent.
Now Manzoor and his supporters argue that he was “not a member of
the arbitration committee”. That is irrelevant. The fact is that
Manzoor publicly supported the government’s line and deceived the
telecommunications workers with false promises. Such is the hatred of
these workers that Manzoor and his supporters cannot show their faces
on the demonstrations of the telecommunications workers. The conduct of
Manzoor in this dispute was now in the public domain. References to his
behaviour were being made in the media and also on left websites. For
us to have tolerated such actions or remained silent about them would
have completely discredited our Tendency in the eyes of the workers of
Pakistan and the entire world.
Manzoor did not attend the meeting of the IMT leadership in Europe,
despite being phoned by Alan Woods and asked to come, alleging that he
was “very busy with the telecommunications dispute” (!). The case
therefore was discussed in his absence, and a resolution was passed
unanimously calling upon him to resign from his positions. He was given
some time to reflect, but a deadline was set for August 9, 2008, by
which time he had to comply with the terms of the resolution. If he
refused to resign from these posts by that date, the resolution
empowered the Pakistani leading bodies to take action against him. We
made it clear to him that as long as he abided by the democratically
reached decisions of the Tendency, we would be prepared to listen to
his case.
In practice, while in words he made us believe that he was prepared
to accept the decision, in practice he did not resign from the
positions he had taken up in the PPP leadership. In various telephone
conversations with members of the International leadership, MA said
that he was prepared to resign, “but not just yet”. However, this was
just a game. On 10th August he refused to resign from his
positions, or even to attend the EC meeting called to discuss his
position. The EC decided temporarily to suspend him from membership and
a special session of the CC was called on 22nd August at which he was invited to clarify his position.
At the CC meeting Manzoor continued to defend his position and
rejected the IEC resolution. When the matter was put to the vote, the
resolution adopted by the IMT leadership and the decision of the EC got
overwhelming support. When he saw the hands raised in favour of the
resolution, he walked out of the meeting, followed by four people (yes,
only four!) and broke with the IMT.
It is said that we “expelled” Manzoor. In fact, we expelled no one
from the organization but only requested him to follow the instructions
included in the IMT resolution, which called on him to resign from his
positions in the PPP leadership. When he refused to do this, and the
Pakistan CC voted in favour of IMT resolution by a big majority Manzoor
walked out of the CC meeting with his few hangers-on and decided to
break from the International Marxist Tendency. All the discussions in
the CC have been reported in the minutes of that meeting. After that
very few comrades in the whole section went with him though he gave big
lucrative offers to them for jobs and government contracts.
The involvement of the state
We do not think that the present furious attacks against the IMT are
an accident at this particular time.
What is meant by furious attacks? Answering your articles when they are packed full of nonsense? That is a furious attack? Noone attacked the IMT we attacked the leaders of the IMT. The problem is that the leaders act like they 'own' the IMT in the vein "l'etat c'est moi!" but in this case "I am the Party"
Nor do we think it an accident
that our enemies have singled out the Pakistan section for their
particular attention.It is an extraordinary
achievement that in a poor, backward Islamic state, the forces of
Marxism have made such striking gains. This is known all over the world
– both to our friends and our enemies.
The Pakistan section of the IMT has experienced significant growth
in very difficult times. Our comrades are working in very hard and
dangerous conditions. We face many enemies: the landlords and
capitalists who oppress and murder worker activists, like our martyred
comrade Arif Shah; the fundamentalists and Taliban who regard Marxists
as their most deadly enemy and issue death threats against our comrades
like Ali Wazir; the fascist MQM who murder PPP activists and who shot
and wounded our comrade Riaz Lund in Karachi. These are very dangerous
enemies. But there are others, still more dangerous.
Our comrades are also under attack from the state forces, who
understand that we are the only serious revolutionary force in
Pakistan. The right-wing PPP leaders are working closely with these
same state forces and the US imperialists who see Pakistan as a
necessary tool for waging their dirty war in Afghanistan. Zardari is
only a tool of Washington. The real ruler of Pakistan is Hilary
Clinton. The IMF runs the bankrupt Pakistan economy. At least for the
time being, the imperialists need Zardari, who is their puppet.
Therefore, they are interested in the elimination of the PPP Left in
general, and the Marxists in particular.
Large amounts of money have been put at the disposal of this
‘group’. Zardari has put Manzoor in charge of the ‘People’s
Secretariat’ in Islamabad. (were the last two sentences supposed to be connected together? Oris this connection supposed to be made by the reader? Are you claiming that the Peoples' Secretariat was created to destroy the PPP left on behalf of Hillary Clinton and agencies of the US state apparatus? This is the notorious place where corrupt
politicians trade in jobs, transfers, promotions, government contracts
and other corrupt practices. To state that is is a 'notorious place', in no way verifies the implication that by Manzoor being in charge of the 'Peoples' Secretariat' that he is corrupt. This fact (what fact is that? you mean this inneundo and assertion) alone is sufficient to prove
(prove="to establish the truth or genuineness of, as by evidence or argument"...http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prove) that these ex-Marxists have become completely absorbed in the corrupt
and autocratic apparatus of the PPP. In fact the only thing that is proved here is that you are not interested in verfying claims, not interested in evidence, you simply want to get gullible comrades to swallow every story that you make an assertion about. This is done in order to appear infallible when you have in fact made so many mistakes recently that you are wrecking the IMT to save your own prestige.
Ever since then these individuals have been trying their utmost to
sabotage the Pakistan section of the IMT. This is the main task, for
which they have been hired by the capitalists in the PPP and sections
of the state. They have attempted to buy individual comrades, promising
jobs for them or their children. (which comrades did they attempt to buy with promised of jobs for them and their children, where is your evidence?) In a poor country like Pakistan this
is a very tempting prospect. But very few comrades were prepared to
sell their principles and join them on that basis.
Their aim is to confuse, sabotage and destroy the Pakistan section.
Part of this dirty work is to sow confusion internationally, playing on
the fact that comrades in other countries do not have access to all the
information. The fact is that for more than 18 months you concealed all the information about the split in Pakistan. If you had "all the information" that you now claim in this article, why did you not provide this tpo "comrades in other countries 18 months ago? surely you could have avoided the possibility that anyone could sow confusion if you would have circulated your "facts," "evidence," and "proof" then! Some unscrupulous individuals have been playing on this to
circulate what they call “information” (in reality, malicious
disinformation).
The split-off group failed in all its efforts to damage the section
through the above-mentioned methods, and are now resorting to other
means. Comrade Lal Khan is now banned from appearing on TV programmes
on several TV channels, evidently as the result of a directive from the
Minister of Information. But why was Alan Woods allowed on TV a few days ago if Manzoor had instructed the Minister of Information to ban the IMT? Or was Lal Khan's ban not extended to Alan Woods by mistake? Even more serious, several worker comrades
have been transferred to far off places by the state so that they
cannot continue their jobs. Some have been sacked from their jobs or
refused promotion, with serious consequences to their lives.
Having failed to corrupt the Tendency or to bring it under their
control, they are now trying to encourage the PPP leadership to carry
out a witch-hunt of the Marxists of the IMT in the PPP. Now they have
resorted to physical violence against the comrades. On 22 June 2009 two
of our full timers in Karachi were arrested by the Steel Mills police
for distributing leaflets against the privatization of Pakistan Steel.
They were locked up illegally and tortured by the police with the
connivance of this group. Where do you have the slightest evidence for this wild assertion? The police arrest and torture two comrades in Karachi and you say that Manzoor and his comrades are blamed. By what means could such coordination between the arresting officers and the torturers have been "connivance of this group"? Where is your evidence for this assertion?:
If we were to assume that the story being given were true "the connivance of the group" must have been with the head of the Karachi police operation at the Karachi steel mill. What evidence do you have of such contact? There must have been some communication, meetings, discussions, etc. between the arresting officers and their superiors? How are the "group" connected to the police? Again not a shred of evidence is provided for this wild and Stalinist style slander. How did the group instruct the police to torture the comrades? How did they connive in this crime? Did they attend the police station and give the police direct instructions or advise on techniques of torture? Which comrades were these? Can you name them?
Everyone knows that even in England, which is a rich country with a long history of bourgeois democracy, that workers and political activists are often subject to harrassment, arrest and beatings by the police. It is very rare for such an occurance to be blamed on the 'connivance' of another left wing group. Even in Britain when someone is arrested for opposing the war we don't even accuse the Labour Party leaders of "connivance" in specific arrests. When Ian Tomlinson was killed by police in London on the G20 protests last year, no-one said "the Labour Party" "connived" to kill him, even though the Labour Party was in change the state. In other words the accusations of "connivance of the group" in the arrest and torture of IMT comrades is simply an insane allegation.
On 30 January 2009 two members of the Pakistan E.C., comrade Adam
Pal and comrade Zuhaib Butt, were assaulted by the PPP goons at the PPP
district convention in Kasur. The TV news was, ‘Manzoor gets Adam Pal
and Zuhaib Butt severely beaten up for raising slogans of Socialist
Revolution and then arrested.’ These comrades suffered severe injuries
and in this condition they were taken to the police station, where they
were threatened and tortured, instead of being hospitalized.
Who were the PPP goons, what were these comrades doing, how was there a connection between Manzoor and the arrest and torture of these comrades? Not a shred of evidence is provided yet again!
Manzoor and Privatization
The real role of these ex-Marxists is to act as a “left” cover for
Zardari and the PPP right-wing leaders. The fact of the matter is that
the so-called “labour” wing of the Party is continually attacking the
working class. They are supporting all kinds of elements against
genuine workers’ representatives, forming yellow pro-government unions
in order to break the unity of workers and prevent any organized
resistance to the onslaught of the government. Their aim is to sabotage
the movement against privatization (or “public private partnership”).
Please can you specify what has been privatized? You cannot because nothing has been privatized under the present government!
Manzoor is attempting to sell the "great vision" of Zardari to the
workers. He regularly appears on news channels as a spokesperson for
Zardari and the PPP leadership. He is defending all the policies of the
present government. In the referendum at the State Bank and in Karachi
Electric Supply he supported the candidates of the MQM against the
workers’ representatives. As the man in charge of the People’s Labour
Bureau (the trade union wing of the PPP) he is continuously defending
the policy of privatization, which they try to disguise under the name
of “the Benazir Employees Stock Option Scheme or Public Private
Partnership Programme”.
Under this new name they are selling off government-owned
institutions to private companies. The stock option scheme does not sell "government owned institutions to private companies", it gives 12% of shares to the workers. This policy was launched by the
Ministry of Privatization. This scheme is being used by the PPP
leadership to deceive the workers that they are being given shares of
the department they are working in and this is “like the
nationalization that was carried out by Z.A. Bhutto in the 1970s.”
Actually it is the precise opposite: it is privatization with another name. (privatization is when the majority of shares in a company are made private, not when a minority are private or owned by the workforce.)to be contiinued...
The PTUDC has strongly condemned this programme. To defend it in any
way is a crime against the working class. Yet Manzoor and his friends
are trying to induce the workers to accept the ownership of 12% of the
shares in the privatized industries. (The present Government has not privatized any industries, so you are protesting that in already private industries the Government has handed the workers some of the shares.) Manzoor is present at almost all
the official ceremonies in which the selling of shares is falsely
presented as “nationalization”. He is using his position as leader of
the People’s Labour Bureau to mislead the workers. Here is a recent
press report on this campaign, published in Aaj TV Online - Pakistan Ki
Awaz on Friday 4th December 2009:
“KARACHI: The federal government on Friday gave away 12 percent of
its shares, over 5.239 million, valuing Rs 1.4 billion, in Pakistan
State Oil (PSO) among some 1,968 permanent and contractual employees of
the state-run oil company under Benazir Employees Stock Option Scheme
(BESOS).
“Federal Minister for Privatisation, Petroleum and Natural Resources
Naveed Qamar, at a certificates-distribution ceremony at PSO
Terminal-C, Keamari, said that this was to give a sense of ownership to the workers.
“Some 27,148 units, each containing 193 shares, and each valuing in
the Karachi Stock Exchange by around Rs 296, were distributed among
those Karachi-based management, non-management, contract and CBA
employees who had been on pay roll of the PSO till August 14, 2009,
when Prime Minister Yuosaf Raza Gilani had announced the workers
empowering scheme.
“The ceremony was attended, among others, by President of People's Labours Bureau (PLB) Chawdhry Manzoor,
Managing Director of PSO Irfan Khalil Qureshi, CBA President Rashel
Alam, President of PLB Sindh Rehmatullah Sarki, and a large number of
PSO employees amid ear-splitting slogans of 'Long Live Bhutto'.” (Employees given 12 percent of PSO shares, our emphasis)” What exactly does this article reveal? Other than that Manzoor was at the meeting and the PSO employees are loyal to the PPP and supportive of the share scheme?
Another report, dated 1st October 2009, describes a meeting in Islamabad, in which Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani announced the handover of stocks of PPL to the workers:
“Formally launching Benazir Employees Stock Option Scheme (BESOS) to create in them sense of ownership and empowerment.
Under scheme 12% GoP share holding worth around Rs 100 billion will be
transferred for 0.5 million workers of state owned enterprises. He said
BESOS will enhance growth, ensure protection, security of assets as workers will have direct stakes in viability, profitability of entities in which they were also shareholders.
`’I am glad to have fulfilled yet another dream of PPP which strongly
believes in democratic principles. We believe people are real source of
power, as they have right to determine their fate,’ Gilani said and
vowed to do all to empower them.” (Our emphasis) There is actually nothing in this article that is controversial. Of course when workers are given some shares in the company whether state or private this creates a "sense of ownership". In and of itself this is not a bad thing. The question is who owns the majority of shares? Is it the central state, a collective of workers, the local government a mixed venture? In socialism we may will have many companies that have share ownership schemes, many self-owned companies, and many privately owned (yes privately owned) companies. Just as they had in the USSR under Lenin's government. There is nothing socialist or Marxist about advocating 100% state ownership.
These words could have been pronounced by Margaret Thatcher thirty
years ago. But now they are being presented as the last word in
“socialism”. And who was standing at Giliani’s elbow at this ceremony?
The report concludes:
No you did understand the statements just as the journalist did not. Giving away 12% of shares is not privatization, regardless of whether any two journalists claim it is.
No, there is no confusion here. These reports accurately convey MA’s words and truthfully express his position, which is no more no less than a defence of Zardari’s programme of privatization under the guise of “worker-shareholders”. And this man has the brazen effrontery to claim to represent the ideas
of Ted Grant! He even tries to present his group as the “Left
Opposition” of the IMT! To which one might reply: if this is the Left
Opposition, we would like to see what the Right would look like!
Evidently someone here does not lack a sense of humour.
I recall in 1989 discussing with Alan Woods about the privatisation and join venture plans being mooted in East Germany at the time and he correctly pointed out that our bottom line should be that 50% plus one of all shares must be owned by the state. I discussed the same matter in relation to joint ventures in China with Ted Grant in 1992. He also was not opposed to private capital being invested in State industries. Nor was Lenin in the USSR. So the point is there is no fundamental principle involved here.
Ted Grant’s position
It is ironic that these people claim to stand for the ideas of Ted
Grant. Comrade Ted always defended work in the mass organizations, but
he warned continually of the dangers of opportunist degeneration. While
waging a constant struggle against sectarianism, Ted never turned a
blind eye to the dangers of opportunism. If he could read what is now
being written in his name he would be turning in his grave.
Ted mercilessly attacked the Healyites for their tactic of
opportunist adaptation to the left reformists in the Labour Party in
the early fifties. But these petty bourgeois careerists are a thousand
times worse than the Healyites. Here we have a blatant opportunist
adaptation, not to the left reformists, but to the extreme right wing
of the PPP. These people have abandoned even the word “socialism”. When
speaking on TV, they shamelessly defend Zardari and try to cover up his
corruption and other crimes. To identify this blatant opportunism with
the ideas and methods of Ted Grant is an insult to the founder of the
IMT. The idea that these comrades have abandoned speaking of socialism is simply a stupid falsification.
The Pakistan Marxists are facing attacks from the opportunists
inside the PPP, but also from these “Lefts”, which, like the sects in
other countries, are always trying to unite – and always fail. The
Pakistan Marxist Tendency rejects the arguments of the so-called Lefts
who oppose work in the PPP. The sects are well aware of our rapid
growth and are consumed with jealousy and frustration. They always
invite us to their “unity” meetings, because they know they can do
nothing without us. But we never go to these meetings, which are a
waste of time.
Contrary to the false and malicious reports being spread by the
enemies of the IMT, we rejected the invitation to attend the conference
being held to "unite" all left parties. As usual, the name of The Struggle
was included in the invitation card without our permission. But not one
of our comrades attended this meeting. Like all the other unfounded
rumours that are being spread for dubious reasons, it is the product of
either ignorance or malice – or, more likely, both.
The Pakistan Marxists are fighting against these right-wing policies
and the theory of reconciliation. We have stood for a socialist
programme both outside and inside the PPP. The rank and file inside the
PPP is also reacting against these policies. The workers abhor people
who try to defend the President, Prime Minister and their stooges. This
situation entirely confirms our perspectives for the PPP. The workers
and peasants of Pakistan turned massively to the PPP after the return
of BB. They voted for the PPP in the hope of a change. But their hopes
have been dashed. They had to pass through the school of Zardari in
order to learn the real nature of the PPP leaders. And they are
learning fast. So is this to say that the workers have already passed through the school of Zardari and have already drawn radical revolutionary conclusions or "they are learning fast" but are still in the school of Zardari and have not yet drawn such conclusions?
Cracks are opening up inside the PPP that will widen with time and
experience. We have no intention of abandoning the PPP, but it would be
fatal for us to be seen as defending the anti-working class policies of
Zardari, which are alienating the masses and preparing the way for the
return of reaction. Our position is that of Lenin: “patiently explain”.
This will attract an ever increasing number of people towards our
revolutionary ideology. So you mean that the cracks have not yet torn apart the authority of the leadership, and therefore the school of Zardari has not been exhausted yet!
There have been many splits in the PPP in the past – both right-wing
splits and left-wing splits, but they could not capture the tradition.
For example, Murtaza Bhutto was killed because he was moving to the
left and was to some extent under the influence of our ideas. In the
next period there will be many crises and splits. There will be a
tremendous ferment in the PPP, in which the Marxist wing can gain
influence and strength. The policy of capitulation to Zardari would cut
us off completely from the workers and the PPP rank and file. What is
required is to build the forces of Marxism quantitatively qualitatively. Your assertion of capitulation has still not been backed by any facts.
“Reconciliation”
In Karachi and other parts of Sind (the historical homeland of the
PPP) there are the beginnings of a revolt of the Party rank and file.
Recently the workers of the PPP in Lyari, which is a stronghold of the
PPP in Karachi, came out in big numbers against this policy of
reconciliation. They were chanting slogans against Zardari's coalition
with the MQM, a fascist party which is killing PPP workers on a regular
basis. The press report of this incident states:
“Press conference: Later, LPC chairman Shahid Rehman and LPC
spokesperson Zafar Baloch held a press conference. Baloch said the
target killings have nothing to do with Lyari. ‘It is war over the
resources of the city and some forces are resorting to target killing
to strengthen their grips on the local government system,’ he explained.
“His voice trembled with emotions when he said, ‘The bodies of the
PPP workers of Lyari and weapons were being taken from one place to
another via ambulances of a particular social welfare organisation and
in the mobile vans of the city police.’ He demanded inquiry into these
matters.
“Demands: Zafar Baloch demanded that an operation be launched in
each and every street of Karachi including Nazimabad and Azizabad to
eradicate terrorism from the city. He also labelled [Interior Minister]
Rehman Malik as a member of the MQM and demanded President Asif Ali
Zardari to sack him. He said it was the people of Karachi who shed
their blood and supported the PPP in tough times." (Residents take to the streets following operation in Lyari: Pain of betrayal fuels rage)
A recent issue of The Struggle gives prominence to this
protest and maintains a firm position against reconciliation with these
fascist and right-wing parties. We took this edition of the paper to
Lyari and got a huge response. People are openly abusing Zardari and
his cronies for making a coalition with the killers of their brothers
and sisters. But what is the position of Manzoor? He is
continuously defending Zardari's policy of reconciliation, which means
joining hands with all right-wing and reactionary parties including
Islamic fundamentalists, Pushtoon Nationalists, Muslim League and the
fascist MQM. The following news cutting is one small example
“Other main speakers of the seminar include Federal Minister for
Privatization Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan, Senior Minister Punjab Raja
Riaz Ahmed, Dr. Tanvir-ul-Islam, former MNA Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed,
General Secretary PPP Federal Council Khalid Ahmed Khan Kharal, MPAs
Shaukat Basra, Nosher Langriyal, Munir Ahmed Khan, Shamim Shah and
Wasif Nagi.
“Former MNA Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed said the entire life of
Benazir Bhutto revolved around the struggle against usurpers. He said
it was Shaheed Benazir who was always targeted by her rivals but
whenever she assumed power, she adopted the policy of reconciliation.
“Chaudhry Manzoor said the politicians, demanding implementation of
CoD (an agreement with the right-wing Nawaz Muslim League), should also
know that the procedure regarding appointment of judges was also
mentioned in the charter. He said rather than voicing some clauses,
they must play their role for complete restoration of the charter.” (The News, 19 January 2010, Tribute paid to Benazir Bhutto, our emphasis) Firstly we have no means of verifying that this newspaper and its journalist are accurately reporting. Secondly the second and third paragraphs do not prove anything about Manzoor "continuously defending Zardari's policy of reconcilation" as you allege, not even as "one small example". Perhaps you have one big example to make this point more clearly. Why did you not choose such a big example? Could it be you do not have one?
From these lines alone it is sufficient to see that this man has
completely broken with the most elementary principles of Marxism and
has gone over, lock, stock and barrel, to the bourgeoisie and its
agents in the labour movement. These lines do not reveal anything of the sort.
Manzoor defends the right wing
The press and TV are full of examples of Manzoor’s role in defending
the right wing, such as his intervention on a TV show defending the
Prime Minister of Pakistan and admiring right-wing leader Javed Hashmi (Kal Tak – 29th September 2009).
In the Business Recorder (December 8, 2009), we read the following:
“Chaudhry Manzoor likely to contest for PPP secretary general slot
“HAMID WALEED
“LAHORE (December 08, 2009): Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed, Pakistan
Peoples Party (PPP) stalwart from district Kasur, is likely to contest
elections for the slot of party secretary general against Chaudhry
Aitzaz Ahsan, said the party sources. Talking to Business Recorder, the
party sources said Chaudhry Manzoor is one of the strong contenders of
Aitzaz Ahsan for the elections, likely to take place early next year.
“Chaudhry Manzoor is commonly known as Comrade Manzoor in party
circles and he has long association with PPP. Also, Manzoor has been
playing very pivotal role in the party over the last one and a half
year and he is considered to be close to the party leadership. (Chaudhry Manzoor likely to contest for PPP secretary general slot, our emphasis)” (Our emphasis)
Once again there is zero substance to the newspaper article you cite as evidence. It asserts Manzoor "is considers to be close to the party leadership" considered by whom? In the previous sentence the journalist says "commonly known as Comrade Manzoor" what does a business newspaper mean when it sarcastically describes Manzoor as "Comrade Manzoor"? It means they consider him to be a communist, and they are attacking the Party for being too left wing for being too close to power for their comfort!
In the Daily Times, Sunday, December 13, 2009, we read:
“Sunday, December 13, 2009
“PPP delegation leaves for Dubai today
“Staff Report
“LAHORE: A five-member delegation of the Pakistan People’s Party
will leave for Dubai today (Sunday) to attend a two-day multi-party
conference organized by the International Republican Institute, a
US-based international forum, sources told Daily Times on Saturday.
“According to party sources, the delegation consists of NWFP
minister Raheemdad Khan, Member of National Assembly Nafisa Raja,
Member of Punjab Assembly Uzma Bukhari, former National Assembly member
and in charge of the party’s Central Secretariat Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmad and PPP Election Cell in charge Kamran Habib. (PPP delegation leaves for Dubai today)” (Our emphasis)
Manzoor attended a meeting a part of a delegation to contest the conclusions of an opinion poll conducted under the auspices of the International Republican Institute. What exactly is wrong with this?
On Tuesday, February 09, 2010 the Pakistan Observer (a widely read and trusted daily) published the following article:
“PPP works for peoples’ rights
“Lahore—The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will make every possible
sacrifice for political rights of people, stability of democracy and
elimination of terrorism in the country.
“Peoples Labour Bureau head Ch Manzoor Ahmad, Peoples Labour
Federation of Pakistan President, Farrukh Zahoor Butt, Punjab Peoples
Labour Bureau President Malik Sher Ahmad Khan and PPP Punjab
Information Secretary Muhammd Salim Mughal expressed these views while
addressing a meeting of Peoples Labour Federation’s allied
organizations on Monday.
“Reposing their complete confidence in PPP Co-chairman and
President Asif Ali Zardari, they said the nation and the party were
united under his leadership. They said the PPP would overcome all
political challenges in the light of the political philosophy of
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.
“They said the PPP would do its best to create a consensus opinion among all political forces of the country,
adding that baseless propaganda against the co-chairman of the party
would not be tolerated and it would be opposed tooth and nail. The
meeting, through a unanimous resolution, demanded recovery of written
off loans.”—APP (PPP works for peoples’ rights) (Our emphasis).
This is not a quote from Manzoor it is a journalist reporting the views of several people as one, "reposing their complete confidence" i.e. this is not a quote from Manzoor at all.
Nobody who reads these reports can have the slightest doubt that MA
has decisively broken with Marxism and become an opportunist of the
worst kind. No amount of subterfuge, evasions and lies can alter this
fact.
The Marxists and the PPP
There is no short cut to revolution. Before we can conquer power, we
must first conquer the masses. In Pakistan we have made spectacular
progress in this respect, as everyone is well aware. The comrades of
the IMT are working in the PPP but always maintaining the position of
revolutionary socialism. By contrast, Manzoor and his supporters have
abandoned all pretence at defending Marxist ideas and socialist
revolution. This group of opportunists is maintaining a position of
defending Zardari at all cost and in turn getting personal benefits.
They have become the stooges of Zardari and consistently defend his
right-wing policies.
For them “work in the PPP” signifies working hard for positions and
privileges, to get jobs and contracts. For us, work in the PPP
signifies fighting to tear the masses away from the influence of the
corrupt right-wing leaders. The Marxists and the genuine Lefts of the
PPP are resisting the right-wing policies of the government. The
activities of the student wing of the PPP (Peoples Students Federation)
are a thorn in the side of these opportunists. Comrade Zuhaib Butt is
currently Secretary General of PSF Punjab. MA is using all kinds of
manoeuvres to replace him with his own stooge.
Comrade Zuhaib is not welcome in Governor House in Lahore and other
state institutions because he has always maintained the irreconcilable
position of revolutionary socialism. Does he want to go to the Governor House is Lahore? Is it not a place of corruption? He has protested many times
against the government policies and has raised his voice against
unemployment, privatization, price increases and other issues. The PPP
Punjab bureaucracy is afraid of these positions and is trying their
best to prevent him from attending official meetings. But the students
and workers of PSF in Punjab are in regular contact with comrade Zuhaib
and he is in a position to call a meeting of Punjab PSF at any time.
At a meeting in Kasur where MA was on the platform, comrade Zuhaib
was severely beaten by PPP goons. He held a press conference in the
Lahore Press Club next day. In this press conference, the president of
PSF Rawalpindi division was also present. This press conference got
coverage in around 15 daily newspapers next day in which they
recognized him as the Secretary General of PSF Punjab. The news of this
incident was also reported on TV and radio channels, while the
manufactured version of the story being spread by MA’s supporters is
reported nowhere.
We are fighting in the PPP against the policies of Zardari and are
condemning the policies of privatization in public meetings. (what industries have been privatised under this government?) The
biggest attack on our comrades is coming from Manzoor on the behest of
Zardari and his Minister for Information Qamar Zaman Kaira. Comrade
Rauf Lund is Secretary General of PPP in Rajanpur District. Manzoor has
tried all means to get comrade Rauf removed from this position,
although he has not yet succeeded. Why is it ok for Comade Rauf Lund to be Secretary General of the PPP in Rajanpur District? Was this an elected position? No it was not!
Manzoor is using the PPP bureaucratic structures and his accomplices
in government to attack our comrades. Comrade Nazar Mengal who is also
working in the Peoples Labour Bureau has been sacked from his position
of Secretary General of Balochistan, because Comrade Nazar was taking
revolutionary socialist positions, which was creating problems with the
Chief Minister and President of PPP Balochistan. On their request,
Manzoor sacked the comrade from his position. Take a good look at this paragraph again..."Comrade Nazar Mengal who is also
working in the Peoples Labour Bureau" so in other words there is nothing wrong with being appointed to official positions inside the Peoples' Labour Bureau, indeed these are even position you covet? The same is true of the position of Comrade Nazar when he was "Secretary General of Balochistan". What absurd hypocrisy!
Marxism versus opportunism
The opportunists cannot protest against privatization, unemployment
or the policy of "reconciliation" of the Zardari clique because they
are getting huge benefits, perks and lucrative jobs from this clique.
They can only hire people to attack those who are working for the cause
of socialism. This includes a small number of deluded or
ill-intentioned people who claim to be related to the IMT, when in
practice their sole aim is to wreck it. In Pakistan, the link between
these elements and the state is self-evident. We warn those who
are playing the same game outside Pakistan to think very carefully
about whose company you are in and whose interests you are representing.
These people are making a lot of noise, sowing the maximum
confusion, spreading all manner of lies and disinformation. To what
purpose? Is this intended to “inform” people of the “real situation in
Pakistan”? If they are so desperate to “inform”, why do they never
bother to ask the opinion of the Pakistan Marxists? The answer is that
their real intention is not to provide objective and impartial
information, but only to spread as much dirt and confusion as possible.
This is supposed to “help” people to understand! How nice! How pleasant!
This campaign of disinformation includes a maliciously fabricated
report and photos of a so-called congress that has been ‘accidentally’
revealed to some comrades. This is yet another act of deliberate
sabotage against the IMT to sow confusion and demoralization. We cannot
recognize the names and faces of more than seven people shown in this
“report”. Where did they all come from?
There are thousands of opportunists and bureaucrats in the trade
unions and the PPP who are buzzing around the Peoples Secretariat and
ministries in Islamabad like flies around a honey pot, hoping to get
their issues solved and collect some crumbs from the orgy of corruption
this regime is involved in. For a bureaucrat of the PPP (and that is
what Manzoor is), it is a very simple matter to get a hall full of a
few hundred people and make photos and show banners of Ted Grant and
Leon Trotsky. It is not at all difficult. We do not know most of these
people, but we do know that they were never members of the Pakistan
section and almost certainly would not know the difference between Ted
Grant and Mickey Mouse.
The sole aim of these activities is to cause the maximum disruption
to the IMT and its Pakistan section. The sole beneficiaries of this
activity are Zardari and the PPP right wing and the Pakistan state
forces and imperialism. The individuals, who, for reasons best known to
themselves, wish to sow confusion and demoralization, either do not
know anything about the real situation in Pakistan – in which case they
should keep silent. Or else they do know and are telling deliberate
lies – in which case the intention is not to “inform” but to
disorganize the IMT. What are the facts?
Manzoor left the organization with only a few dozen supporters -
mostly demoralized and inactive people or dissatisfied elements who had
previously occupied leading positions but had been reduced to a
secondary role because of inactivity or incompetence. To these people
MA was in a position to offer jobs, money, contracts and all kinds of
perks. In a country like Pakistan this was a great temptation.
The only region where he temporarily got more than a handful was
Pukhtoonhua (formerly the NWF Province) but within a couple of months,
as soon as the comrades learned the facts, he lost everything except a
handful of the old leaders.
Acting on behalf of Zardari, MA then tried to organize a campaign of
sabotage and disinformation, nationally and internationally. In
Britain, his agent was Atif, who got nowhere and subsequently left the
IMT. Now he is attempting to reactivate this campaign.
Did we gain or lose?
Since these people left the organization The Struggle has
gained strength and respect among trade unions and among the rank and
file of the PPP. There has never been any comparable case in Pakistan
of a left organization that was prepared to take action against a man
who was a leading figure in order to combat careerism and opportunism.
This caused a great surge of admiration and solidarity. A number of
ex-comrades who had left partly because of dissatisfaction with
Manzoor, phoned to ask to rejoin the Tendency.
Now we have more members than we had when these people walked out.
When Manzoor broke away from the international, not more than 40 people
left with him. However, as a result of the appalling objective
situation about a hundred comrades dropped out of politics. The
membership in 2008 went down from around 2300 to 2150. Now we have a
membership that is close to 2500. The membership now stands at 2,492
(of which, around 100 are women).
The advance of the Tendency can clearly be seen by the reports and
photos of our 2010 Congress in Lahore. The Pakistani Marxists are
steadily moving forward towards our goal in extremely difficult
objective conditions. Despite all the attacks, the Pakistan Marxists
are growing and we aim to reach the goal of 5,000 in the next period.
Our activities are being reported on our website, which clearly
reflects our strength and influence. Our influence in the trade unions
is growing, because of our campaign against privatization. Our
influence in the trade unions is growing, because of the mass work
conducted by the Unemployed Youth Movement (BNT) and the establishment
of Youth for International Socialism (YFIS) in various educational
institutions.
Our role, however, is not limited to Pakistan. Our successes have
had a big impact in neighbouring countries. We have supporters in
Afghanistan and recently published an article from a comrade in
Afghanistan. In India there are many sympathisers and supporters, who
look to our successful work in Pakistan and we will soon build the
forces of the IMT in this important country also. In Bangladesh, too,
there are several groups of sympathisers who would like to promote the
IMT.
Working against the capitalist system and imperialism in such a
brutal state is not easy. The Pakistan Marxist are being attacked from
all sides, from the opportunists inside the PPP to the so-called “left
parties”, from the reactionary fundamentalists and nationalists to the
fascist MQM and all the other forces of reaction. But we will not be
deterred from our goal, nor will we water down our ideas, or give up
our work in the working class and its organizations.
In the end it is the battle of ideas that will be decisive. We will
not be intimidated by insults and lies. Those who think that in the
present conditions it is acceptable to hide under Zardari's bed and
send a flood of scurrilous e-mails directed against those who are
bravely fighting for socialism under the most atrocious conditions, are
very much mistaken. Such methods will not help them to sabotage a
revolutionary organization that has been steeled in struggle and is
used to fighting against far more serious enemies.
Comrades, in Pakistan we are fighting for revolutionary socialism in
atrocious conditions. From Waziristan to Malakand, we are working in
the heat of a ferocious war. The lives of our comrades are at stake.
Recently one of our comrades was killed in this war of attrition in a
bomb blast in Lower Dir. Our comrades are facing the Islamic
fundamentalists, the US aggression, the reactionary nationalists,
attacks from the PPP bureaucracy and an impotent crusade of the
Stalinists and the sects. All these have failed to deter our resolve
and growth of the forces of Marxism.
The Pakistani comrades of the IMT are carrying out revolutionary
work in the middle of a brutal war between the Taliban and the Pakistan
army; we are condemning both sides. We have not only condemned the
black forces of reaction called the Taliban but also have openly
condemned the army operation. This bloody operation is being carried
out at the behest of US imperialism, and it has the complete support of
Zardari and the PPP government. By the way, Zardari has also signed the
agreement for imposing Sharia Law in Malakand.
To defend Zardari's policy of sending the Pakistan Army into these
areas these opportunists and cowards inside the PPP harp on about a
perspective of “black reaction” in Pakistan and put forward the idea
that it is necessary to back Zardari to prevent the victory of
reaction! By contrast, our comrades in the PPP in Malakand have openly
spoken out against the Sharia Law agreement and condemned the army
operations. It is nonsense to imagine that such measures can combat
fundamentalist reaction. As a matter of fact, sections of the army are
supporting and propping up the reactionary fundamentalist forces, and
the cruelty of the Pakistan Army and its US allies are daily recruiting
more youngsters to the Taliban.
The truth is that the people of these areas are against the
fundamentalists and hate any kind of Islamic parties. This is why they
voted for PPP which raised the slogan of Roti, Kapra aur Makan
(Bread, Clothing and Shelter). But after the betrayal of the PPP
leadership they are looking for an alternative which can stop the army
operations and rid them of the Islamic fundamentalists. The courageous
position taken by our comrades in these areas has given us a great
response and we are winning recruits in big numbers precisely in these
war zones.
Regular visits by comrades from the centre to these areas have
boosted the morale of the regional leadership, and they are doing their
best to fight for a socialist revolution amidst a civil war. Amidst all
the carnage and constant danger of suicide bombings, the comrades held
an inauguration ceremony for the book Pakistan's Other Story
in Peshawar, and it was a big success. PPP workers, students and trade
union activists participated in this meeting, despite the acute danger
of terrorist activity. They showed their appreciation for our position
of irreconcilable struggle for socialist revolution.
We have now opened a regional office in Peshawar in the Railways
Colony – the heart of the railway proletariat, and the Peshawar
Division of the Railway Labour Union has officially affiliated to the
PTUDC. This is genuine revolutionary work, and it deserves the
enthusiastic support of every genuine proletarian internationalist in
the world. The attempt to stab us in our backs has failed to stop the
march forward. With the support of the IMT which is our only ally on
this planet we shall achieve a socialist victory that shall rapidly
advance towards a Socialist Federation of the South Asian subcontinent
and far beyond.
Lahore, 24th March, 2010.
Appendix I:
Disclaimer: The truth about the so-called Left Unity Conference
By Adam Pal (on behalf of the Central Secretariat of The Struggle)
On 25 December 2009 a so-called Left Unity Conference was held in
Pakistan under the slogan “How to build a Party”. Some malicious
reports that have been put in circulation by the enemies of The Struggle alleging that we participated in this meeting, indeed that we sponsored it! That is a lie.
There are innumerable left groups and “parties” in Pakistan, but
they are miniscule and confused. They unite to break up into more sects
that merge and then reunite again, without considering the ideological
and theoretical basis or clear perspective and aims. They unite for
“revolution” without agreeing upon even the basic character of the
revolution.
These groups habitually send invitations to The Struggle to participate in their “unity conferences”. The reason is quite clear: The Struggle
is the only Left organization in Pakistan with a serious base among the
workers, peasants and youth. That fact was shown yet again in our
recent national Congress, where over two thousand comrades participated
from every part of the country.
These small groups are therefore constantly asking us to join a “united front”. What is our attitude to this? We
never even reply to these invitations. We are not interested in a
“united front” with sects, and still less “building a Party” with them.
The only united front we are interested in is the united front with the
masses, the workers, peasants and revolutionary youth, the rank and
file of the trade unions and the PPP.
As usual on this occasion, we did not reply to the invitation to attend the 25 December meeting. Not a single member of The Struggle
was present at it. We did not give permission for our name to be used
in relation to it. Yet it appears that our name was put on the leaflet
advertising it as though we were part of the organizers. This was a
cynical manoeuvre by the organizers intended to create a false idea of
the support that they have in the labour movement – which is zero.
It is not our custom to comment on the antics of these small groups,
who represent nothing at all in Pakistan. The only reason we do so now
is because the aforementioned ill-intentioned individuals have been
circulating these false and malicious reports internationally. People
outside Pakistan may believe such contemptible rubbish. Here it passes
completely unnoticed.
We appeal to our friends in Europe and other parts of the world not
to pay any attention to this disgusting campaign aimed to blacken the
good name of the Pakistan Marxists, who are fighting for socialism
under very difficult and dangerous conditions. Remember the words of
Comrade Trotsky: “The locomotive of History is truth not lies.”