First Draft of Political Resolutions for Socialism in Pakistan

In order to conduct a successful struggle for socialism, it is
imperative to understand the political context in which this struggle
is being conducted.

Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This is a question of the
first importance for the revolution. The basic reason why all
previous revolutionary struggles achieved so little was their failure
to unite with real friends in order to attack real enemies.
Mao Tse-Tung (Vol 1, 1926)

This basic question that Mao so clearly and eloquently posed must be
answered in the context of Pakistan today. The history of Pakistan
shows that the civil-military bureaucracy has ruled the country since
its inception. And this remains true even today when the military
continues to hold the strings of power in all aspects of national and
political life of the country.

The civil-military bureaucracy is a representative of imperialism in
our country. This can be seen by the fact that ever since the first
CinC, Ayub Khan, was made the defence minister in 1954, the country
gravitated into the US sphere of interest and became a front line
state in the imperialist war against communism, socialism, and
democracy. Pakistan became a signatory of both the Baghdad Pact
(CENTO), and SEATO. These cold war pacts were aimed against the
Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China and other
revolutionary or non-aligned governments in the Third World. When
the Egyptian Arab Nationalist Gamal Abdul Nasir nationalised the Suez
Canal, the Pakistan army supported its colonial masters (Britain,
France and Israel) against this anti-imperialist movement. When the
Palestinian Liberation Organisation was waging its just struggle
against the Zionist settlers, the Pakistan army fought alongside the
Zionist and American puppet King Hussain and massacred thousands of
Palestinians in the Jordanian civil war of 1970. The Pakistan army
has also consistently supported the undemocratic decrepit monarchies
of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iran. These reactionary states along
with Pakistan were allied in their effort to undermine and destroy
the forces that were fighting against American and Zionist
imperialism. When the Afghan people rose up against feudalism,
Pakistan was instrumental in supporting the CIA led war against
them. Few people know that Israel was also helping to equip, train,
and fund the Mujahideen. During the first Gulf War the Pakistan army
openly sided with the United States against the people of Iraq.
Therefore, the Pakistan army is not free of the responsibility of the
death and massacre of 1.5 million Iraqi's. And today the Pakistan
army has once again shown its complete subservience to imperialism by
volunteering in the so-called "war against terrorism." The hands of
the Pak army are already drenched in the blood of the Afghan people.
In conclusion, all these actions show how the Pakistan army has
undermined the very foundation of national sovereignty.

Neither has their record been very different within the country. In
its fifty-six years of existence, Pakistan has experienced three
periods of martial law (1958-1962, 1969-1972, and 1977-1985), and
many more of dubious `democracy' used as a cloak for military rule.
The first, and arguably the only, freely elected Prime Minister of
the country was murdered by the army under a false case. In order to
crush the democratic movement in Pakistan scores of people were
incarcerated, flogged, tortured, and hung on the streets by these
very self-proclaimed defenders of `Islam' and the `nation'. In order
to maintain its hold over the economic and political structure of
Pakistan, the army has used fascist agencies such as the ISI to
perform its dirty deeds. Such despicable intervention continues to
this very day. International monitors have declared the elections of
last year to be nothing more than an orchestration by Musharaff to
provide civil legitimacy to his military dictatorship; a fact that
few Pakistanis would disagree with.

The most unforgettable and unforgivable display of the brutal nature
of the Pak army occurred in Bangladesh, or then East Pakistan, in
1971. After years of economic exploitation and cultural oppression
of the Bengali people, the military directly intervened to crush the
just struggle for national self-determination by the people of
Bangladesh. Millions were massacred, looted, and raped at the hands
of the Pakistani army. No apology can ever excuse the genocide
carried out against the citizens of East Pakistan.

Such brutality towards the very citizens it is supposed to be
defending does not begin and end in Bangladesh. The army has
consistently suppressed the voice of various other nationalities that
have dared to demand their right of self-determination in Pakistan.
Starting from 1948, the army has conducted brutal military action
four times against civilians in Balochistan. This was similarly
repeated in Pukhtoonkhwa, where nationalist forces were repeated
humiliated and tortured and incarcerated by the central government.
During the movement for the restoration of democracy, the army
committed atrocities against the population of Sindh (1983). Extra-
judicial killings against communities in Karachi became a regular
feature of the `clean up operation'. The army deliberately fostered
and encouraged religious and national sectarian killings in order to
undermine the people's unity for democracy.

The record of the army conclusively demonstrates that the
establishment has no interest in the independence and sovereignty of
any nationality or people. Therefore, its intervention in Kashmir is
little more than an expansionist policy aimed at the eventual
subjugation of the Kashmiri people, and an excuse to justify its
continued antagonism with India. The army has fostered and
encouraged hostile relations with India and in turn used this threat
to justify its fifty-six year brutal domination over the country.

This domination has not been restricted to the political arena, but
has extended to the economic sphere as well. The increasing control
of the army over the industrial and agricultural structures is
reflected by the fact that the Fauji Foundation is the largest
industrial complex of Pakistan. In addition to the profits it
accumulates through its control over industry and agricultural lands,
the army further appropriates nearly 30% of the total budget of
Pakistan. Because 52% of the total goes to debt servicing, this adds
up to over two-thirds of the budget that is spent within Pakistan.

We emphatically declare that the development of democracy,
sovereignty, development has become totally incompatible with this
civil-military, neo-colonial state structure.Given this political
context the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party is faced with the historic
responsibility of leading the peoples democratic and anti-imperialist
struggle in Pakistan. How should the party address the following
contradiction in such a manner as to facilitate the advance of the
democratic struggle?

Political Resolutions

[IRO 2002 & trade unions, Corporate Farming Act 2002, Democracy (ARD)
constitutional amendments, Globalisation in pk, Imperialism in Pk,
Socialism (Cuba China Vietnam Korea), New struggles (Nepal, Colombia,
Turkey), non-communist anti-imperialist struggles (Iraq, Israel,
Afghanistan, Venezuela), Pak India Peace and Kashmir, United
Democratic Front (3 principles), Anjuman Mazarin and Hashtnagar,
policy towards NGOs, national question (Balochistan), women, Kalabagh
dam.]

Firstly, under the auspices of international financial institutions
such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and the World
Trade Organisation, the government of Pakistan has been embarking
upon a long-term strategy of neo-liberal policies that are opening
the Pakistani market to Multinational companies and corporate
agriculture. The resulting privatisations of health and education
are robbing the people of the few fundamental concessions that were
won over many years of struggle. According to the government's own
estimates, at the start of the 1990's poverty was said to be at 17
million. Today the incidence of poverty stands at a staggering 45
million people. The Congress will address how the party can
intervene in the growing contradiction that has resulted from the
implementation of neo-liberal policies and the process of
globalisation.

Second, the fundamental rights of oppressed nationalities in Pakistan
continue to remain a source of continuing conflict. What is the
party's position with respect to the struggle of all the
nationalities in Pakistan? The party must elaborate a proposal for a
socialist federation together with well-defined autonomous areas to
bring all the nationalities of Pakistan together into the common
struggle against imperialism, feudalism, and the civil-military
bureaucracy.

Third, in order to facilitate the People's Democratic revolution, the
party must be able to build a United Front against the common
oppressors of the people. This involves an understanding to come
together on the basis of three principles that unite the
revolutionary forces present in whatever shape or form in Pakistan.
The three principles are:
1. Anti-Imperialism
2. Restoration of complete Democracy (non-interference of the
military in civilian matters)
3. Secularism (political equality of all citizens before the law)

Fourth, the party must emphatically declare its opposition to any
form of war mongering by our own government. It must be realized
that the path to freedom does not lie through war with India but
through revolution in Pakistan. This means that we must boldly raise
the slogan "No War but the Class War" with respect to India.

Fifth, while the party supports the just struggle of the people of
Kashmir for self-determination, the party must emphasize that the
Pakistan army has expansionist and predatory interests with respect
to Kashmir. Therefore, we must emphatically declare that the CMKP
does not support the intervention or influence of the Pakistan army
in Kashmir.

Sixth, the party holds the position that the recently held elections
are nothing but a complete sham. The rise of the Mutahida Majlis e
Amal owes itself to three factors. First, hypocritical anti-
imperialist rhetoric of the MMA; second, the consistent undermining
of secular parties by the establishment; third, a conscious policy on
the part of the army to engineer the victory of the MMA as a "red
herring" to gain continuing support from the United States. Until
and unless all influence and pressure by the army is completely
removed from civilian politics in Pakistan, no election can be
considered free, fair, and democratic.

Seventh, the agrarian question is the centrepiece of the democratic
revolution. Therefore, the party's policy with respect to land
ownership is crucial in the context of Pakistan. The party must work
to build a mass based peasant movement for land-redistribution. The
immediate goals of this peasant movement must be to redistribute land-
holdings above 100 acres for irrigated and 150 acres for non-
irrigated land. After the destruction of the feudal ruling class as a
political force the long-term goals of the party are to completely
redistribute all land and create cooperative and state farms. In
conjunction with this policy, the party upholds and supports the
valiant struggle of the Anjuman Mazarin for ownership rights. The
party must adopt the popular slogan "Malki Ya Maut" of the mazarin as
a fundamental party slogan.

Eight, given the oppressed conditions of women in Pakistan, the party
needs to pay special attention to the women's question in order to
develop the democratic revolution. Equality before the law, equality
in property, equality in marriage and divorce, equality in the home
and the work place are fundamental rights of all women in Pakistan.
The party, therefore, strongly opposes the Hadood Ordinance that
undermines the democratic rights of women.

These are the eight prerequisites for the development of socialism in
Pakistan.