May Day in Pakistan

The PTUDC celebrated May Day in the morning by organizing a seminar in Lahore. The topic of the seminar was "the crisis today and the working class". More than 100 workers, women and students participated in it. Yasir Arshad the national organizer of YFIS was the stage secretary. Comrade Shahida Jabeen chaired the seminar while Jahangir Badar, Secretary General of PPP, was the chief guest. Munoo Bhai, Javed Shaheen, Sher Ahmad Awan, President People's Labour Bureau, and many others addressed the seminar and explained that the working class has been badly looted and crushed by the capitalist system and that the only way out towards a "human friendly" system is by overthrowing capitalism through a socialist revolution.

Comrade Lal Khan said that the ruling class of Pakistan is blindly bowing before the imperialist powers and it has brought forward the brutal laws like IRO 2002, on the instructions of the imperialist powers under which even the right of protest has been taken from the working class and the socialist revolution is now inevitable.

Here at Rawalakot today May Day was celebrated with a revolutionary spirit under the banner of the PTUDC, YFIS and PSF. A procession consisting of hundreds of participants started out from the postgraduate college of Rawalakot and after passing through the city reached the District Council Hall where a meeting started which lasted for more than 3 hours. Different trade unions, and associations of the workers and students took part in this programme. They were raising the slogans of "socialist revolution", "workers of the world unite", "No solution but Revolution" and so on.

Comrade Ijaz Siddiqi conducted the stage while the following trade unionists, students and PPP leaders addressed: Comrade Gulbaz [YFIS], Raja Ijaz Senior vice chairman (PSF), Ex chairman and Ex adviser Govt. AJK Abid Hussain Abid (PPP), Ex adviser Govt. AJK Azeem Khan (PPP), Comrade Irshad (PTUDC), Comrade Riaz (CFSK), Nazir Hussain Gurdazi (Markzi sadar Para Medical Staff Association), Khalid Mehmood (Markazi chairman Para Medical Staff Association), Sardar Imtiaz Khan (Sadar APCA Distt. Poonch), Farooq Ahmed Ex general sectary Barbar association Distt. Poonch, and other PSF student leaders.

All the speakers stressed the fact that today it is necessary to unite and fight against capitalism to liberate the working class. They said that today the situation of the workers of the world is not better than the situation of the workers of Chicago in 1886. They resolved to fight against this system under the Red Flag, the symbol of working class and revolution.

The PTUDC held a function in the municipal park of Dadu in which twenty unions participated. The programme was presided by the president PTUDC Mohd Mohreel Phanwar. The chief guest was the MP Marwee Mazhar. While the other guests included Haji Mohammad Arsad Memon, Basheer Ahmad Solangi, Ghulam Rassol Sayyal, Raja Rafique Phanwar, Ameen Jamalee, Ghulam Qadar Inter, Dost Ali Zanoo, Khalid Jamali, Mohd Moosa Kattor, Anwar Phanwar, Kareem Bux Khushk, Yaar Mohd Balaidee and Pir Mujeeb. While addressing the meeting the comrades said that the working class has only one road that it can take, that is to unite and fight for the revolution. It was further emphasised it is the peak of brutality that all the processes of this universe are made to run by the working class but due to the capitalist system the more they work hard the more they suffer. Their children die of hunger and illness. They can't go to school. They don't have their basic necessities fulfilled so it is inevitable that this system must be changed through socialist revolution.

It was first time in the history of PTUDC that comrades from Faisalabad organized a function on May Day in Faisalabad. More than 100 people were invited to the function. All the PPP leadership were present at the function. And the leadership of the People's Labour Bureau was also present at the programme. They all thanked the comrades and congratulated them on organizing the function and inviting them.

Comrade Zulfiqar Gondal, who is a PPP MP, was the chief guest while comrade Adil was the stage secretary of the function. Comrade Sajjad addressing the meeting said that Pakistan Peoples Party is the traditional party of the working class. And the working class who trusted the party during the hard times has been badly betrayed by the leadership. So it is necessary that the working class should understand that if they want real freedom they will have to develop a leadership that genuinely represents them. And that is only possible if they build a genuine revolutionary party. Comrade Lal Khan delivered his closing speech in which he criticized the betrayals of the leadership who never defend the cause of working class but they always follow the ruling class whenever their was a movement of the workers.

He said that the working class is not dead. It is alive and it will surely move. It has learnt a lot from its past and this time it will go for a socialist revolution.

On May Day a rally was organized by the PTUDC in Sadiqabad. The participants of the rally were carrying red banners and flags, on which the slogans against imperialist aggression and capitalism were written. Many trade unions participated in the rally including the All-Pakistan PWD Workers' Union, the Human Rights Foundation of Pakistan, the Highways Department Workers Union, the Revolutionary Riksah Union, Lawyers Association and Student unions.

At the end of the rally the gathering had become a large meeting which was addressed by Comrade Rana Qamar uz Zaman Khan, the MP Chaudry Safique, Shahid Azer and Syed Mukhtar ul Hassan Advocate.

The speakers said that the IRO 2002 is a brutal action of the state against the working class. And if the working class want to fight against it, the working class would have to unite and would have to collectively fight against the whole system.

Nawab Din Lashari, Mirza Mohammad Yasin, Imtiaz Ali, Haji Abdul us Saboor, Abbas Taj, Mohammad Yaqoob, Haider Chugtai, and Syed Mukhtar ul Hassan also addressed the Participants of the rally.

In Kotli the PTUDC also organized a rally in which a large number of workers, students and activists of the PSF and PPP and Peoples Labour Bureau participated actively. The route leading to the rally was plastered with posters of the PTUDC and the participants carried red flags and banners. The participants raised revolutionary slogans. At the end Zafar Ali, Sardar Aftab, Anjum Sardar, Gul Nawaz, S.N. Shoreeda, Zaheer Chaudry, Mazher Kazmi, Farhat Abbas, Majid Razaq, Sardar Zafaer Mukhtar Chaudryanjum Bari and Tariq Baralvi addressed the participants.

Futher functions were held all over the country under the banner of the PTUDC in which thousands of workers participated. These include Rawalpindi, Wah, Karachi, Rahim yar Khan, Jhang, Badeen, Thatha, and many other cities.