Charsada (Hashtnagar)
PEASANT WOMEN FIGHT BACK AGAINST THE FEUDALS BACKED BY THE STATE
An Anti-Terrorist Act Case Has Been Registered Against CMKP General
Secretary, Afzal Khamosh
Detailed report by Syed Azeem, Punjab President, Communist Mazdoor
Kissan Party
During the 1970s a number of peasant struggles started in Pakistan,
which were mainly organized by the Communists. The most successful and
militant land-grab by the peasants took place in Hashtnangar, an area
close to the Pak-Afghan border in the province of NWFP. Organized by the
then Mazdoor Kissan Party (MKP), the peasants were able to liberate
this area from feudal lords, who brutally oppressed the poor peasants
and had the backing of the state. Since those days, Hashtnagar remains
to be a liberated area despite several attempts by the feudal lords and
state to eject the peasants. Under the sincere leadership of the
Communist Workers Peasants Party (CMKP), the peasants remain united and
steadfast. Almost 300 people have lost their lives in thirty years of
conflict but the peasants are not ready to give up the lands that
provide food and shelter for their families.
Recently, another attempt by the feudals, in connivance with the state
machinery, is in progress to forcefully evict the poor peasants from
the lands of Charasada (Hashtnangar). Eager to use the so-called
"War-Against-Terrorism" hysteria, the military and feudals are eyeing to
not only takeover the lands of Hashtnagar (in NWFP), Okkara, Khanewal,
Sargodha and Pak-pattan (in Punjab), but also to reverse many gains made
by the peasant movement in Pakistan. After putting up a show of
"cracking down on terrorists" to please his masters in United States,
the current President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, wants to use the
anti-terrorism slogan to clean-up all opposition against him. The state
- a nexus between the capitalists, feudals, civil and military
bureaucracy - has taken action against religious extremist outfits only
for the time being to appease world opinion. In actuality, it is afraid
of the working-class movement in Pakistan, which has a glorious past of
struggle. The Communist
Workers-Peasants Party (CMKP), in the immediate aftermath of September
11, had declared its apprehensions that President Musharraf will use the
pent-up war-on-terror propaganda, created and supplied by US imperialism
all over the world, as a weapon against true anti-imperialist and
working-class forces in Pakistan.
Now that the extremist religious parties, created and organized by a
joint venture of US imperialism and Pakistani establishment, are
rapidly dissolving into political nonentities, the ground for the
forces of left in Pakistan are wide open. Now the next enemy of US
imperialism in the region are the forces that have refused to accept the
new Afghan setup and also know how to fight US imperialism on scientific
footings. In Afghanistan, the two Maoist organizations, that have
refused to accept the puppet setup led by Hamid Karzai and threatened to
fight against it, are Afghan Liberation Organization (ALO) and
Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). Their closest
ally in Pakistan is the Communist Workers Peasants Party (CMKP), which
has also made it clear several times that it would not let US
imperialism stand in the way of obstructing the right of peoples of
Pakistan and Afghanistan in choosing their own destiny. Soon enough, a
new poison will be injected into Pakistan's economy in the form of
"financial assistance" and "aid", not only to reward the Pakistani
establishment
for assisting the US-led world coalition but primarily to preserve the
decaying, corrupt, exploitative, yet compliant status quo. CMKP has set
the precedent, once again, to rise to the occasion against this status
quo. The state and its allies have registered cases against the leaders
and cadres of CMKP.
Here starts a new phase of struggle at hand.
As mentioned earlier, in 1970s the peasants of Hashtnagar, organized
under the leadership of the then MKP, defeated the feudal lords. Now the
Pakistani establishment, which is just another tool of US imperialism,
is raising much hue and cry on the forced takeover of land by the
peasants. CMKP was
quick to realize that the anti-terrorist laws will be used against the
party and the peasants. Therefore, they mobilized the peasantry in the
area and instructed them not to use weapons except as a last resort.
This was in contrast to the previous encounters in which guns and other
ammunition have been used, and several lives have been laid down, to
fight the feudals and the state. On (Tuesday) 22nd January, 2002, 3,500
personnel of police and the Frontier Constabulary attacked the village
of Charasada. The
peasants were unarmed, but organized. The police, on the other hand, was
armed with guns, tear-gas shells, armored vehicles and jeeps. They also
had tractors, which were used to damage the crops. The fight started at
around 9:00 a.m. in the morning. First the tractors were used to raze
the crops but the
peasants fought back burnt all three tractors to ashes. The police fired
in retaliation, which resulted in dozens of injuries. However, the
peasants and party cadres surrounded the armored police vans and broke
their glasses.
After two hours of intense fighting, all the school and college students
of the region also joined in the fight. They were all enthusiastic young
ones of the peasants. They were all in high spirits and shouting slogans
at the top of their voices: "Long live the unity of the working-class
movement! Long live the revolution! We would not even surrender a tiny
particle of the soil of Hashtnagar!" The battle continued for seven
hours, during which on Superintendent Police (SP), two Deputy
Superintendent Police (DSP) and several Station House Officers (SHOs)
were injured. Here is something very interesting to note: the SP got
injured after getting a severe beating from a peasant women. What has
taught this seemingly docile woman of a third world country to beat up
an officer of the "law" of such a high rank? Obviously it is the high
level of class-consciousness and revolutionary zeal.
The police was forced into a humiliating retreat. However, while
retreating the police played another dastardly trick by attacking
another hamlet named Singapore (surprised?..there are also hamlets with
names like Japan, Germany etc.), which is located several kilometers
away from Charsada. At that
moment, there were no men present in Singapore as they had been busy
celebrating their success in Charasada. The police thought that they
stood a better chance in this hamlet. This was, again, not to be. The
peasant women attacked the convoy of police and fought like a true
revolutionary army.
They burnt the remaining tractors and again the police had to retreat
while licking its wounds. In previous encounters, women used to supply
men with ammunition who were doing the main fighting. This time around
it was all in reverse order. In the end, the organization of the peasant
was a
spectacle worth watching: women in the front ranks, children in the
middle and all the men were behind. A bold peasant woman, with a burning
blanket, came running behind an armored police vehicle and threw the
blanket on its roof. Soon the vehicle caught fire as the policemen came
out of it coughing away and gasping for breath. The men and children,
meanwhile, were amusing themselves and were clapping and chanting
revolutionary slogans.
Thoroughly humiliated from the defeat, the police lodged an FIR, number
48/2002 dated 22/01/2002 under Sections 435/353/337 A-I, 337/F-3, 186,
189 PPC (Pakistan Penal Code) and 7 ATA (Anti-Terrorist Act) 147, 149
PPC, against 120 people, including the General Secretary of CMKP (Afzal
Khamosh), Provincial President of CMKP, four Nazims and four Naib Nazims
(elected
representatives of Local Bodies). On the same night the police raided
peasant houses in the periphery of Charsada and arrested a peasant
leader called Gulab Gul. When the peasants came to know of this, they
attacked and captured another police convoy and captured a few police
officers. Then
they went on to raid the police station where Gulab Gul was being
detained and threatened to burn down the police station if their leader
was not released. After negotiation the police exchanged the peasant
leader for the captured policemen. Now the police have surrounded the
entire region and are
arresting peasants who did not even participate in the fight. Up till
now 16 arrests have been made so far, 8 out of which are so old that
they can not even walk properly without support. Consequently, the
environment in Hashtnagar is extremely tense at the moment. This
situation can, at the slightest provocation, erupt into a full-scaled
armed confrontation at any time, which is likely to cause severe loss of
life and property. The peasants of Hashtnagar, however, have a glorious
past of resisting
violence perpetrated by the feudals in connivance with the state
apparatus. They will remain united and steadfast - this is for sure.
On the 27th of January, the peasants held a large procession of almost
5,000 people. I assured the peasants that working-class parties would
support them all over the world. I declared to them that I would take a
countrywide tour to gain support for them. I conveyed to them the
solidarity and unflinching support of CMKP to fight side by side with
the peasants, as it has done so frequently in the past. We, therefore,
request and hope that all the working-class and leftist forces of the
world to give their support to the brave peasants of Hashtnagar. A new
era of revolutionary change is gradually gaining in not only Pakistan
but throughout the world. Yet the imperialism region has shown a firm
grip on our region. The area of Charsada (Hashtnagar, Pakistan) is very
close to the border with Afghanistan, where US imperialism has vital
interests. Therefore, to not only preserve, but
also to advance the peasant movement in Hashtnagar is of paramount
importance for the anti-imperialist forces of Pakistan and the world.
The peasants of Hashtnagar, under the sincere leadership of CMKP, would
not give up even an inch of land because their livelihoods and the
future of
their children and families are dependent on this land. They are facing
a do-or-die situation. They have nothing to lose, but their chains.
We demand vociferously that the brutal act of forceful eviction of
peasants of Hashtnagar must be stopped immediately, and the false cases
registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act against Afzal Khamosh (General
Secretary, CMKP), Nisar Khan (Provicial President, CMKP) and other
peasant leaders must be withdrawn. We are not terrorists but
revolutionaries.
Long Live Revolution!
Long Live Communist Workers Peasants Party Pakistan!
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