CMKP - Fight the US Occupation of Iraq

Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party

PAKISTANI TROOPS SHOULD GO TO IRAQ ---

TO FIGHT US OCCUPATION!

The Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party held a seminar on the death anniversary of comrade Nazir Abbasi (communist leader tortured to death by the establishment in 1981) to condemn the debate on sending Pakistani troops to help the US occupation of Iraq. The seminar was surrounded by a heavy contingent of police armed in full riot gear (the number of policemen was twice the number of seminar participants). The seminar was attended by representatives from nearly all left political parties in Pakistan. However, the overwhelming CMKP supporters were factory workers and Bhatta workers clearly differentiating this seminar from other left seminars. The seminar was an enormous success and participants were energized by a potent mix of analysis and revolutionary communist poetry. Press coverage was decent (a TV crew also shot the event but I cannot confirm which network they were from). Unintelligent Intelligence agents were prowling around (including in the seminar) and attempted to get as much information as possible. None of these things even remotely phased or worried the audience all of whom were committed and hardened activists and were not going to be intimidated by the establishment. The most wonderful impact of the seminar was the rejuvenation of the genuine communists. Branches of our movement that had long been out of touch or silent suddenly reemerged—activists came to the participants and said “I am so and so, and I have worked with this branch of the party for x years under comrade y’s leadership, now tell me how do I get active again.” It confirmed the view that there are communists or sympathizers in every nook and cranny of Pakistan, they just need organization. When a party or movement makes genuine sacrifices and takes real risks for the people, sympathizers emerge from the woodwork to carry the movement forward. We hope that our efforts on behalf of the CMKP will be another step in the direction of a socialist society.



Daily Times



Send troops to Iraq to fight US occupiers: CMKP



By Mehreen Z Malik



http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_10-8-2004_pg7_16


LAHORE: The people of Pakistan want the Pakistan army to fight in Iraq against the US occupiers, the Punjab President of the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (CMKP) said on Monday.

The CMKP held a seminar at Nasir Bagh to introduce a “different view-point” on the issue of sending troops to Iraq.

“The two limits of this debate have been prescribed before hand and they are: we should either send troops to Iraq to help the US occupation or stay neutral,” said Mr Rahman. “The CMKP wants to follow a different lead and that is that troops should indeed be sent to Iraq, but they will go to fight against US occupation.”

Mr Rahman said that keeping in mind the “neo-colonial history” of the army, the CMKP’s demand would never be met. “However, CMKP believes that this demand conveys the true and popular will of the people of Pakistan and highlights the enormous gulf between the revolutionary anti-imperialist spirit of the people and the completely servile nature of the Pakistan establishment,” said Mr Rahman.

Speakers at the seminar did not give any credence to the government’s informal pledge of not making any decision contrary to the wishes of the people. “The rubber stamp parliament of Pakistan was not capable of defending its own prime minister and is obviously not going to take a serious stand on this issue,” said Mr Rahman. “Even if it does take a stand, everyone knows that the army couldn’t care less about parliamentary approval.”

Speakers at the seminar pledged that they would not “stand by and watch” while the Pakistani army became complicit in “yet another genocide”. The party aimed to build enormous public pressure to ensure that Pakistani troops did not go to Iraq to help the US occupation, “euphemistically called ‘helping in the reconstruction of Iraq’”, said Mr Rahman.

Ahmed Yusuf, the Lahore secretary of the CMKP, explained the Draft Programme of the CMKP, which contains four tenets: secularism, democracy, socialism and anti-imperialism.

“The immediate objectives of our party are to destroy the neo-colonial and semi-feudal chains in which the people of Pakistan are enslaved,” said Mr Yusuf. “The party has the immediate task of setting up a People’s Democracy that will pave the way for socialism.” Such a revolution would secure the concentration of power in the elected representatives of the people without outside interference, said Mr Yusuf.

“We are fighting for the complete elimination of all discriminatory practices and laws against women and the transfer of control of industries to the workers of Pakistan,” said Mr Yusuf. “Also, our party provides fraternal assistance to progressive movements all over the world to overthrow the rule of US imperialism and Zionism.” The CMKP was formed in 1994 when the Communist Party of Pakistan and the Mazdoor Kissan Party came together. Emerging from over 54 years of struggle, the CMKP has been unwavering in its defence of Marxism-Leninism.







COMMUNIST MAZDOOR KISSAN PARTY

Press Release

9 August, 2004





PAKISTANI TROOPS SHOULD GO TO IRAQ ---

TO FIGHT US OCCUPATION!

The people of Pakistan want the Pakistan army to fight in Iraq AGAINST THE U.S. OCCUPIERS.



Recently, Pakistani society has been contemplating whether to send troops to Iraq. The limits of this debate have been prescribed before hand and they are: either we should send troops to Iraq to help the US occupation, euphemistically called ‘Helping in the reconstruction of Iraq’ under a UN mandate, or Pakistan should stay neutral. The Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party held a seminar on 9th August 2004, in which it stated that it wishes to introduce a different point-of-view, which is that the Pakistani troops should go in to Iraq to fight the US occupation. Given the neo-colonial history of this army, the CMKP acknowledges that this will never happen. However, they feel that this demand expresses the true and popular will of the people of Pakistan and underscores the enormous gulf between the revolutionary, anti-imperialist spirit of the people and the completely servile nature of the Pakistani establishment.



Although the Government has said that Pakistani troops will not be sent to Iraq without UN approval, without request of the Iraqi ‘government’ (occupation forces), and parliamentary approval, and an informal pledge has been made that no decision contrary to the wishes of the people will be made in this regard, the CMKP feels that Pakistan’s rubber stamp parliament could not even defend its own Prime Minister; it is obviously not going to take a serious stand on this issue. Further, even if it did take a serious stand, at the end of the day everyone knows that the army couldn’t care less about parliamentary approval. They also stated that the people of Pakistan do not accept the secret deals that are being conducted behind their backs to send troops to Iraq.

The CMKP insisted that they are not going to stand by while the Pakistani army becomes complicit in yet another genocide. The party pledged to build enormous public pressure to ensure that Pakistani troops do not fight for the US occupiers and their puppets in Iraq. The seminar concluded that all people stand shoulder to shoulder against US imperialism.