We are appealing to you to help us in the campaign for the release of workers' leaders arrested on May Day in Pakistan. As you will be aware, a military dictatorship is presently in power in Pakistan. This military junta has tried to portray itself as a "soft" and only mildly repressive regime. They prefer to present themselves in this way in order to divert attention away from its repressive measures. On May Day of this year its true colours were shown. Workers and trade union leaders all over Pakistan were arrested for taking part in May Day rallies. Some have since been released, but many are still being held. Below we are sending you a report we received from the PTUDC (Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign) in Pakistan. Although many were arrested, we have the definite names of six workers' leaders, which you can see in the following reports.
We urge you to send letters of protest to your nearest Pakistani Embassy or High Commission, and to the Pakistani government itself. You should take up this question in any trade union branch you may be involved in and get resolutions passed to be sent on to the Pakistani authorities. The letters and resolutions should condemn what has happened and call for the unconditional release of those arrested.
As much publicity as possible should be given to this campaign. Pickets of Embassies should be organised, where possible. Articles should be sent to any local newspapers that might publish them. You should forward this message to any discussion lists you may be involved in.
If you are involved in any mass workers' party, this question should be discussed in your local branch and on any of the party committees you may be a member of, with the purpose of getting resolutions of condemnation passed, to be forwarded to the Pakistani authorities.
We must not let our Pakistani brothers and sisters rot in jail. We must raise the loudest protest possible.
We must also raise hard cash to help them in their struggle. the present campaign will also include legal challenges and court proceedings. We will need to help pay for legal costs, and also to widen the campaign within Pakistan itself. Please consider how much you personally can give, and also take this request into your local labour and student movement.
You can send cheques payable to the Pakistan Trade Union Defence
Campaign, to:
PTUDC
PO Box 6977,
London N1 3JN,
England
You can also make donations on line via this web site at:
http://www.marxist.com/wellred/donations.asp
We thank you for any action you may take.
Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign,
MAY DAY 2001,
Report on activities of the PTUDC and the arrests that took place
Dear Comrades,
As this report is being compiled reports are coming in of arrests of our comrades from different parts of the country in connection with our activities and interventions in the May Day rallies and meetings. As we get the full picture of the repression we will keep you informed. The PTUDC had planned May Day rallies in advance and a programme was chalked out to carry through this plan on a national scale. A poster was produced and 5000 copies were sent to 17 different cities and towns to be fly-posted in the main squares, factories and other places of public gathering. This task was accomplished on the night of 29th and 30th April 2001. It was also agreed by the PTUDC leadership to hold meetings under the auspices of the PTUDC in 13 different cities and towns across Pakistan. In this report we will go through each of these meeting/activities.
LAHORE
The PTUDC held a representative meeting to commemorate May Day at a traditional left wing hall in the center of the city. Fifty-five leading trade unionists from the most important sectors of industry and economy attended and spoke at the meeting. Those union leaders who spoke were the following:
Malik Arsala Khan, [Central President, Democratic Workers Union, (CBA), State Bank of Pakistan.]
Lala Mohammad Hanif, General Secretary PTCL (Telecommunications) staff Union.
Zafar Ijaz Malik, Acting General Secretary, Railway Workers Union, [Nationally].
Safdar Sindhu, President, Pakistan Trade Unions Federation.
Mohammad Amin Bhatti, Punjab President of the PTUDC, leader of the PECO [Heavy Engineering workers], workers of the [PWD] Public Works Department and WASA [Water and Sanitation Workers]. He also chaired the function.
Revolutionary poets recited May Day and revolutionary poetry. Leading left political leaders also made speeches on the occasion. The morale and mood was triumphant and the participants left enthused and with a rejuvenated zeal to step up the struggle to change society. The most important places in Lahore were littered with anti privatization posters of the PTUDC and those produced specially for May Day.
At the end of the meeting the participants unanimously passed the following resolutions.
A: Condemnation of the repression of the regime against the May Day rallies and of the arrest of the trade union and political activists on this day.
B: Rejection of the policies of privatization, downsizing, restructuring and other right-wing policies being imposed by the regime at the behest of the IMF, World Bank, WTO and other such institutions.
C: Demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all the political and trade union activists, end of the Military rule and the transfer of power to the genuine democratic representatives of the workers and the peasants of Pakistan.
At the end of the meeting a five-member Lahore committee of the PTUDC was elected with senior trade union representatives from the Banking, Railways, Telecommunications, Heavy Engineering and Power workers. This body will meet on a weekly basis. The main task of this body would be to expand the activities of the PTUDC in Lahore, integrate other sectors of industry into the PTUDC, and develop educational and agitational work.
KARACHI
The first news of the arrests came from Karachi. The police arrested Shahida Jabeen, the national secretary of the womens' section of the PPP and also member of the executive of the PTUDC, when she got off the train at Karachi Cantt. Station. She was arrested to prevent her from speaking at the May Day meetings in Karachi. [We have to remember that Shahida also hold the unfortunate record of being the woman to have spent the longest term in Pakistan's prisons, 8 years, during the Zia military dictatorship in the 1980s]. She was taken to the Clifton police station in Karachi. The latest news is that she is still in detention in Karachi.
The PTUDC leaders in Karachi jointly organised a May Day meeting at the Karachi press club. More than 300 trade unionists and workers participated in the rally. The main unions present were the Karachi Steel, Karachi Port trust [KPT], Water and Power, Airlines, KESC [Karachi Electric Supply Corporation] and workers from other main industrial and financial institutions and corporations. The PTUDC has been involved in several struggles and campaigns of these unions against the attacks of various regimes in the last period. PTUDC posters were fly-posted on the main streets and industrial areas of Karachi. Large amounts of political material produced by the PTUDC were distributed at the meeting.
We have to remember that the present Musharraf regime is a weak military dictatorship mainly due to the internal contradictions within the army and to the rapidly deteriorating socio-economic situation in Pakistan. Its use of excessive force against a relatively weak mass movement at this stage reveals its own desperation and fragile nature. But again the main victims are the activists of the PPP. That was the main reason for the arrest of Shahida Jabeen, who is well known for her history of struggle and her revolutionary ideas.
SADIQABAD:
The only open demonstration and rally in Pakistan on May Day 2001 took place in Sadiqabad in Southern Punjab. This rally was held under the banner of the PTUDC. More than five hundred workers participated in this rally. The unions, which attended this rally, were from the following sectors:
WAPDA [Water and Power Development Authority], Telecommunications, Sugar Industries, Railways, Fertilizers, Municipal Workers, Road Transport, Banking, Vendors' union and the Association of Slum Dwellers.
The speakers criticized the policies of the present regime and vowed to continue the struggle against the market economy, against landlordism and against the stranglehold of the multinational corporations. The mood was a defiant one. When the rally was drawing to a close the police attacked the workers who had attended. They started to arrest workers and scuffles broke out. Although most were able to escape arrest, two important union leaders were arrested. They are Shahid Azar [leader of the Teachers' Union] and Mohammad Ashraf [leader of the United Sugar Mills]. As we write this report they are still in Police custody. The police are still raiding the homes of five other trade union leaders in order to arrest them. They are the following:
Rana Qamar uz Zaman, Leader of the PTUDC and general secretary of PPP, Sadiqabad.
Mohammad Din Wrind, Tehsil President of PPP Sadiqabad.
Saeed Nasir, Leader of the PSF [Peoples Students Federation.]
Jamal Nasir, A Poet and local organizer of the PTUDC.
Mohammad Abbas, A Painter and an activist of the PTUDC.
Another meeting of women workers and students was held under the banner of the PTUDC in which 25 women participated to commemorate May Day. In this meeting the Topic was 'May Day and its significance to women's struggle for emancipation'.
RAHIMYARKHAN
In this important industrial city and agricultural center of the Seriaki Belt, the PTUDC organised a Seminar. The topic was 'The present crisis and the importance of May Day'. 180 people attended the seminar. The speakers elaborated the causes of the present economic crisis and how it was necessary to change society if we are to achieve the emancipation of the working class. Most workers were from Lever Brothers and other multinational industries based in this city.
The PTUDC poster was the only May Day poster fly-posted on the city walls in Rahimyarkhan.
MULTAN
This is the largest city in central Pakistan. Here the PTUDC organised a May Day rally at a famous Railway crossing in the center of the city's industrial zone. More than 300 people attended the rally. The Railway Mehnatkash Union collaborated with the PTUDC in organizing this event. The main unions, which participated in this rally, were from the Railway Union, the State Bank of Pakistan, WAPDA, Postal Workers, Municipal Workers, Vendors' Union and some other sectors.
Again the whole city was fly-posted before the 1st of May and this was the main May Day event in Multan. The main speakers included Ilyas Khan [Leaders of the PPP youth wing] and Iqbal Shad the leader of the Multan Railway Workers.
There was a militant mood among the workers, who were preparing themselves for a struggle against this regime and its backers.
RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD
These twin cities are the Capital of Pakistan. The main May Day rally was held at the press club hall in the center of the city. 450 people attended the function organized by the PTUDC in collaboration with other left wing unions. The stage secretary was the regional organizer of the PTUDC, brother Irshad. He is also the leader of the WAPDA workers in Rawalpindi. The other main speakers of the PTUDC were S.N. Shoorida, the leader of the Teachers' Union in Kashmir and Azad Qadri the leader of the Telecommunications Union in Islamabad.
After the rally most of the workers wanted to stage a demonstration. The demonstration went up to Murree Road, the main and the busiest road of the twin cities. Here again the main roads and the city center were fly-posted with PTUDC posters and banners. The huge banner at the head of the demonstration was shown on the main television network news and its photograph was printed on the front pages of the largest news papers of the country!
PESHAWAR/NOWSHERA
These are the two most important cities of the NorthWest Frontier province. Here again the PTUDC activists participated in rallies organized in collaboration with the traditional left unions. Again the PTUDC posters were seen on the main roads and squares of Peshawar.
The bulk of those taking part were workers from the Railways and Sugar Industry. But there was participation from almost all the other sectors.
KASUR
This is an important town in the Punjab near the Indian border. It is famous for its tanneries and hides industry. The PTUDC organised one of the largest May Day rallies in the history of this town. About 200 people attended this rally which went on for 5 hours. The main unions, which participated in this rally, were the following:
Tanneries Workers' Union, Power Looms Union, Municipal Workers Union, Paramedical Staff union, APCA [All Pakistan Clerks Association], PTCL [Telecommunications Union], Habib Bank Employees Union, Tonga [carts] Drivers' Union, Hawkers' Union and the Poor Peasants Association.
The leaders of the unions decided to affiliate to the PTUDC and a meeting was agreed for May 15th to chalk out the strategy of how to speed up the PTUDC work in defence of workers struggles in the Kasur district.
KHUZDAR
This is the second largest city of Baluchistan near the Iranian border. The PTUDC organised a rally in the main Municipal hall of Khuzdar. More than 300 workers attended the rally. They mainly belonged to the Postal Workers Union [NOPE- National Organisation of Postal Employees], Telecommunications Union, State Employees Union, Clerks Association, BLF [Baluchistan Labour Federation] and several other unions.
The rally was presided by the Baluchistan chairman of the PTUDC, Nazar Mengal who is also the leader of the postal workers in Baluchistan.
The streets of Khuzdar were also flyposted with the PTUDC poster in advance of the May Day preparations. The workers came to the venue in small processions carrying their flags and banners. The rally became the centre of attention for the whole city. The speakers explained the impacts of privatization on the lives of the workers and their families. They called for workers' democratic control and management of all the institutions to end corruption and inefficiency in the various sectors.
QUETTA
Here again the PTUDC collaborated with the traditional unions to organise a united May Day rally. The city, which is the capital of Baluchistan, was fly-posted with PTUDC posters. About 250 workers attended the rally from all the main sectors of industry and the services sector.
HYDERABAD
This is the largest city in interior Sindh. The PTUDC organised the May Day meeting in the Sindh Educational Trust Building in the heart of the city. The chief guest was the veteran Sindhi left intellectual Ibrahim Joyo and it was presided over by the Hyderabad divisional chairman of the PTUDC G.R. Memon. About 200 workers attended the meeting, mainly from the Railways, Dadu Sugar Mills, Municipal Workers, Paramedical Staff, Sindh Road Transport and other main unions.
Ibrahim Joyo spoke of the increasing role of the PTUDC in defending Trade Union rights and in the struggles of the workers against cuts and other attacks.
Hyderabad's streets were also fly-posted with the PTUDC May Day posters. Apart from Hyderabad, the poster was also fly-posted in the main towns of Dadu, Larkana, Thatta and other places in interior Sindh.
RAJANPUR
This is one of the most primitive and undeveloped districts of Pakistan. It borders between Punjab and Baluchistan. The PTUDC rally was held in the town hall and was attended by about 200 workers. The PTUDC poster was fly-posted in the towns of Jampur, D.G. Khan and Taunsa in this region. Apart from the workers, mainly from the state and services sectors, there was the presence of peasants and peasant representatives from the area.
These peasants and cotton agricultural workers have strong traditions of leading militant struggles. In September 1999 they blocked the national highway for 8 hours and disrupted the road network of Pakistan. This movement could have spread to cities like Multan had the coup not taken place. The main speakers were Sarwar Abbas and Rauf Khan Lund who are known for their militancy nationally and as the leading left wing leaders in the PPP. About 300 people participated and the tone of the speeches were very militant.
JAND/TAXILA/WAH
In these industrial towns with heavy mechanical, ordinance, cement and other major industries there was further repression due to the so-called 'defence related' nature of these industries. They are under direct military control and there is a vicious internal regime. The authorities immediately removed the PTUDC posters flyposted in the Wah area. They had to be put up clandestinely.
The May Day rally was held in the town of Jand where workers from the area participated. It was held in the press club hall and about 150 workers attended. The meeting was a success given the conditions and would pave the way for expanding the activities of the PTUDC, in this sensitive but strongly working class region.
This is a brief report of the activities of the PTUDC, which has now clearly emerged as an important force within the Trade Union movement. Now more and more TU leaders, activists and workers are looking to the PTUDC as a force which can defend their rights and become a ray of hope in their struggle to break the shackles of the terrible exploitation and working conditions they have to suffer.
The PTUDC vows to carry this struggle through to the end.
Fraternal Greetings,
Khalid Bhatti,
National Organiser, PTUDC.
PS
MORE ARRESTS:
Since this report was written there have been three more arrests in Peshawar. The names are the following: Ghulam Haider, Amjad Shola and comrade Wilson. They were arrested after they gave speeches in the Railway Workers' Colony in Peshawar on May Day.
Shahida Jabeen has been shifted to Karachi Central Jail. We are pursuing their cases and doing all that is possible on the legal and other fronts.