South Waziristan is a
Tribal area in Pakistan, on the notorious Durand Line drawn by the British in
1893. The presence of a primitive tribal system in this area and the absence of
any social infrastructure clearly reveal the impotence of the Pakistani
bourgeoisie. What is new is the fact that a Marxist is standing for parliament
in the area, offering a socialist alternative to the barbarism that threatens
the whole region.
On Monday, January 14, a bomb attack took
place in Karachi. The bomb was clearly part of an attempt to intimidate the
people in the area with the aim of stopping them from voting on February 18.
The area where the bomb went off lies within the constituency where comrade Riaz
Hussain Lund Baloch, a revolutionary Marxist, is standing. All indications are
that this overwhelmingly working class area is going to vote massively for him.
It is evident that the bomb is aimed at him and his election campaign.
We have just received this extremely important report from
the comrades in Pakistan. It indicates that the assassination of Benazir Bhutto
has had the effect of a catalyst that is impelling the masses onto the
revolutionary road. The situation is now beginning to resemble that of tsarist
Russia after Bloody Sunday in 1905. The Pakistan Marxists of The Struggle
are playing a leading role in the mass movement, as this report clearly shows.