The time is ripe to do an inventory of my left organizing in Pakistan over five years, and ask questions. Its been fraught with tension, but its death knell was today. I went to a linen sale, and saw an activist. I remembered him from meetings during the lawyer's movement. And here we were examining export rejects. It's time to rethink activism. Have we been sequestered to our margins and rendered inert. How did this happen so fast.
First and foremost, my work with the labor party (lpp): The amazing thing about working with them was that I met communities - home based workers in Gadap, revolutionaries from Landhi, flood affectees from Sajawal, hard core union organizers who possess stamina for 8 hour meetings. The bad thing was that I was from this side of the bridge, and as an elite, I too often and unwittingly succumbed to the limitations of inter class collaboration. I was too often called to the pulpit, given respect I did not earn, asked to join the Congress. But when I demanded I do hands on work such as filing lawsuit for our comrades who were killed in a road traffic accident caused due to state neglect of roads and lack of hospitals near highways, I was shut down. Where my personal skills could be useful, these were ignored.
But this is not an indictment, just a obituary of sorts. I met the best lefties, the most dedicated people at the lpp - those who paint signs, stand in vigils, lead rallies without a complaint, hold union history in their memories. I respect them for doing the physical work of protest and revolution - of marching, of handing flyers, of participating in janazas, of surviving on tea, of attending meetings and consultations even in times of hopelessness.
My brief work with the Pakistan Fisherfolk forum (pff) was in a similar vein. Although the group is more ngo-ized, the pff can also, admirably, generate crowds of thousands of mahigir for their conventions. If you miss working with them, you miss some of the key issue facing coastal communities - not the least of which is no provision of safe drinking water. The leadership is affable and open to new people; their language is sharp, but the group fails when it come to integrating the community and allies in decision making.
Of-course my experience is limited to Karachi, and I can not generalize about leftie organizing in the rest of the country.
Further, the lawyers from the lawyers movement, in the aftermath of their rule of law revolution, have recoiled. There is no mass drive in the lower judiciary to change the system so people have access to justice, just political intrigue in the higher echelons. Here and there, people will surface with small plans in good faith. But even the education of law does not allow the development of local doctrines or critical legal thought.
While groups such as pff and lpp are marred by their own internal deficiencies of democracy, lawyers by their lack of depth, elite groups are marred by their reach and politics. Largely liberal, these groups take good stances on the rights of religious minorities and women. But, they are disconnected from working class communities; they are more visible on the internet, louder in their their battles; but when it comes to taking a principled stance on Baluchistan, the war in FATA, or link oppression of women and religious minorities within the larger economic context -- of privatization, neo-capitalism, and imperialism -- they are ambivalent, and tend to view extremist radicalization in isolation from economics. They cheer capitalists and believe the solution lies in the free market ultimately.
I am writing this at a time when Karachi is engulfed in violence. Just when we thought things were back to normal, and bodies laid to rest, there is news of shootings in Lyari, and an attack on a vehicle at Boat Basin. In the backdrop, there is a larger, duller violence. There is a strike every day -- paramedics for higher wages, people protesting lack of bijli, gas cuts, petrol price hikes, and mehngai. In rural areas, the poverty is so deep that without whole-scale governmental intervention, creation of livelihoods, investments in agriculture, there is no stopping the train of devastation. Instead, beguiling government officials and army walas sell farmland to foreign business, grant permission to the same to sell GMO seeds, and allow back breaking loans for mega projects. In cities there is a vile corporate takeover-- monstrous constructions of elite towers and malls, fully air-conditioned with glistening floors, are in full flow. Billboards outside my street are lit up by a generator guarded by a man in a van. Both funny and vulgar, it seems. In the meanwhile, a girl slips into coma after the light goes out at a government hospital and there is a lapse in her post surgical care. The elite, some of whom partake in the liberal activism, appease themselves, it's about fueling the economy when they persist in hosting a top class fashion show -- but their real crime is not in not cancelling the show, but willful blindness to how bleak reality is for the rest of the people.
And then you have the endless parade of well heeled, well financed, MBA social entrepreneurs who aim to provide reprieve in pockets; some have good systemic analysis while others are feel good careerists.
It's like we are adrift, and continual protest is only natural, ordinary and inevitable, and it's where we -- scattered activists -- are not at. There is looming insecurity. Whatever little band aid work, political groups, NGOs, ad hoc liberal groups, lawyers are doing, it's not nearly enough. Given their inner lacking in organisation, structure, vision -- their inclination to fiefdom, their scramble for donor funding, limelight, domination -- these are not going to offer effective leadership in the times to come, with or without our critiques.
There are multiple gangs now operating in the city, not just one associated with each political party. Most people travel hallways of fire on designated days, dodge bullets, grow wiser, understand guns and batha, and are more in tune than I could ever hope to be. What is daunting (and terrifying) is this -- whatever impact left leaning political groups -- lpp, pff, Campaign for Democracy, Women's Action Forum, the lawyers movement -- are making, they can't make interventions in the dirty and deadly mass murder politics of the city. Targeted killings, crossfire deaths, vehicle burnings are embedded in the life blood of the city, and fisherfolk conventions, labor actions, impromptu worker's strikes, vigils for Taseer, excellent, uplifting, highfalutin speeches can not even begin to meaningfully tackle these mafias. Meek calls for de-weopanization aside, there isn't even a chalking of viable long termed solutions that pull in communities, let alone implementation.
Yes, you can build schools in Lyari, conduct employment generation projects, construct homes for people who had theirs flattened in the 2010 floods. All problems are rooted in economics. But again, without a massive creation of livelihoods and government commitment to social security, what can this do but serve as a tiny remedy for an impossible, pervasive problem. It's hard not to cave to cynicism -- and coupled by knowledge that political action is weak and tainted, it seems dire.
We who supposedly give a rat's ass are increasingly being driven to the refugee centers of Facebook and Twitter where we click infinitely on articles and videos - be it the twisted literature of our times, the anthems of the Beghairat Brigade and Laal Band, stories of Syria, Egypt, Palestine, reports by Amy Goodman, Obamacare, and issues of Granta with cheeky covers - giant chat rooms with multiple portals but a bit more respectable as you can exercise political discretion in what you read. A different discourse plays out on Geo, Sama, ARY, Express News and other local TV news channels. Without politics or even coherence and logic, the talk show hosts delve into the real life issues of real life people with a raw and voyeuristic edge. The interview of a man who lost his 27 year old son in a shooting. He says ruefully, "My son was an angel." Talat Hussain, dramatically, in a long black coat, leads viewers through the illegally blockaded streets in diplomatic enclaves in Islamabad. Here, a minimum wage guard was crushed to death when one such slab became dislodged and fell on him as he slumbered. Important stuff, but the tone is so garish and blunt, you feel like switching it off.
Surely, there is a lot of information coming at us through the internet and television. But how can we control it and use it to stay connected to communities, and radical real action, rather than becoming stranded and increasingly enraged, but dis-empowered. How can global exchanges of information help rather than deter. With all the knowledge that we have now, how can we go towards a more efficient form of organizing. Are the little actions we are participating in on our own enough, or do we need a massive brain storming session. My inventory could be a narrative of my own personal failing -- my inability to bulldoze and find a way for myself. But is it also a larger failing.
Where do we even start -- with all our education.
First and foremost, my work with the labor party (lpp): The amazing thing about working with them was that I met communities - home based workers in Gadap, revolutionaries from Landhi, flood affectees from Sajawal, hard core union organizers who possess stamina for 8 hour meetings. The bad thing was that I was from this side of the bridge, and as an elite, I too often and unwittingly succumbed to the limitations of inter class collaboration. I was too often called to the pulpit, given respect I did not earn, asked to join the Congress. But when I demanded I do hands on work such as filing lawsuit for our comrades who were killed in a road traffic accident caused due to state neglect of roads and lack of hospitals near highways, I was shut down. Where my personal skills could be useful, these were ignored.
But this is not an indictment, just a obituary of sorts. I met the best lefties, the most dedicated people at the lpp - those who paint signs, stand in vigils, lead rallies without a complaint, hold union history in their memories. I respect them for doing the physical work of protest and revolution - of marching, of handing flyers, of participating in janazas, of surviving on tea, of attending meetings and consultations even in times of hopelessness.
My brief work with the Pakistan Fisherfolk forum (pff) was in a similar vein. Although the group is more ngo-ized, the pff can also, admirably, generate crowds of thousands of mahigir for their conventions. If you miss working with them, you miss some of the key issue facing coastal communities - not the least of which is no provision of safe drinking water. The leadership is affable and open to new people; their language is sharp, but the group fails when it come to integrating the community and allies in decision making.
Of-course my experience is limited to Karachi, and I can not generalize about leftie organizing in the rest of the country.
Further, the lawyers from the lawyers movement, in the aftermath of their rule of law revolution, have recoiled. There is no mass drive in the lower judiciary to change the system so people have access to justice, just political intrigue in the higher echelons. Here and there, people will surface with small plans in good faith. But even the education of law does not allow the development of local doctrines or critical legal thought.
While groups such as pff and lpp are marred by their own internal deficiencies of democracy, lawyers by their lack of depth, elite groups are marred by their reach and politics. Largely liberal, these groups take good stances on the rights of religious minorities and women. But, they are disconnected from working class communities; they are more visible on the internet, louder in their their battles; but when it comes to taking a principled stance on Baluchistan, the war in FATA, or link oppression of women and religious minorities within the larger economic context -- of privatization, neo-capitalism, and imperialism -- they are ambivalent, and tend to view extremist radicalization in isolation from economics. They cheer capitalists and believe the solution lies in the free market ultimately.
I am writing this at a time when Karachi is engulfed in violence. Just when we thought things were back to normal, and bodies laid to rest, there is news of shootings in Lyari, and an attack on a vehicle at Boat Basin. In the backdrop, there is a larger, duller violence. There is a strike every day -- paramedics for higher wages, people protesting lack of bijli, gas cuts, petrol price hikes, and mehngai. In rural areas, the poverty is so deep that without whole-scale governmental intervention, creation of livelihoods, investments in agriculture, there is no stopping the train of devastation. Instead, beguiling government officials and army walas sell farmland to foreign business, grant permission to the same to sell GMO seeds, and allow back breaking loans for mega projects. In cities there is a vile corporate takeover-- monstrous constructions of elite towers and malls, fully air-conditioned with glistening floors, are in full flow. Billboards outside my street are lit up by a generator guarded by a man in a van. Both funny and vulgar, it seems. In the meanwhile, a girl slips into coma after the light goes out at a government hospital and there is a lapse in her post surgical care. The elite, some of whom partake in the liberal activism, appease themselves, it's about fueling the economy when they persist in hosting a top class fashion show -- but their real crime is not in not cancelling the show, but willful blindness to how bleak reality is for the rest of the people.
And then you have the endless parade of well heeled, well financed, MBA social entrepreneurs who aim to provide reprieve in pockets; some have good systemic analysis while others are feel good careerists.
It's like we are adrift, and continual protest is only natural, ordinary and inevitable, and it's where we -- scattered activists -- are not at. There is looming insecurity. Whatever little band aid work, political groups, NGOs, ad hoc liberal groups, lawyers are doing, it's not nearly enough. Given their inner lacking in organisation, structure, vision -- their inclination to fiefdom, their scramble for donor funding, limelight, domination -- these are not going to offer effective leadership in the times to come, with or without our critiques.
There are multiple gangs now operating in the city, not just one associated with each political party. Most people travel hallways of fire on designated days, dodge bullets, grow wiser, understand guns and batha, and are more in tune than I could ever hope to be. What is daunting (and terrifying) is this -- whatever impact left leaning political groups -- lpp, pff, Campaign for Democracy, Women's Action Forum, the lawyers movement -- are making, they can't make interventions in the dirty and deadly mass murder politics of the city. Targeted killings, crossfire deaths, vehicle burnings are embedded in the life blood of the city, and fisherfolk conventions, labor actions, impromptu worker's strikes, vigils for Taseer, excellent, uplifting, highfalutin speeches can not even begin to meaningfully tackle these mafias. Meek calls for de-weopanization aside, there isn't even a chalking of viable long termed solutions that pull in communities, let alone implementation.
Yes, you can build schools in Lyari, conduct employment generation projects, construct homes for people who had theirs flattened in the 2010 floods. All problems are rooted in economics. But again, without a massive creation of livelihoods and government commitment to social security, what can this do but serve as a tiny remedy for an impossible, pervasive problem. It's hard not to cave to cynicism -- and coupled by knowledge that political action is weak and tainted, it seems dire.
We who supposedly give a rat's ass are increasingly being driven to the refugee centers of Facebook and Twitter where we click infinitely on articles and videos - be it the twisted literature of our times, the anthems of the Beghairat Brigade and Laal Band, stories of Syria, Egypt, Palestine, reports by Amy Goodman, Obamacare, and issues of Granta with cheeky covers - giant chat rooms with multiple portals but a bit more respectable as you can exercise political discretion in what you read. A different discourse plays out on Geo, Sama, ARY, Express News and other local TV news channels. Without politics or even coherence and logic, the talk show hosts delve into the real life issues of real life people with a raw and voyeuristic edge. The interview of a man who lost his 27 year old son in a shooting. He says ruefully, "My son was an angel." Talat Hussain, dramatically, in a long black coat, leads viewers through the illegally blockaded streets in diplomatic enclaves in Islamabad. Here, a minimum wage guard was crushed to death when one such slab became dislodged and fell on him as he slumbered. Important stuff, but the tone is so garish and blunt, you feel like switching it off.
Surely, there is a lot of information coming at us through the internet and television. But how can we control it and use it to stay connected to communities, and radical real action, rather than becoming stranded and increasingly enraged, but dis-empowered. How can global exchanges of information help rather than deter. With all the knowledge that we have now, how can we go towards a more efficient form of organizing. Are the little actions we are participating in on our own enough, or do we need a massive brain storming session. My inventory could be a narrative of my own personal failing -- my inability to bulldoze and find a way for myself. But is it also a larger failing.
Where do we even start -- with all our education.
7 comments:
I have an answer. Please stay tuned for further notice.
That is an INSANE quantity of activism, and downright radical for somebody from this side of the bridge.
so what the answer, TLW? Can't wait.
Have you read Saadia Toor's 'A State of Islam?' It takes a chronological look at the struggles of the left in Pakistan. I would love to read your thoughts on that book if you ever happen to read it.
Thanks Ozzy. Saadia Toor is a friend and I have to get a hold of her book. I wish it was represented at the KLF. DO you know whr it is available in Khi?
It's available at Liberty Books, published in 2011, price tag of around Rs. 1500/-. By now I think it must've made it's way to the old book shops too.
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