The Coup in Pakistan

[<KDean75206@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

My apologies if this was already posted to the list--I've been deleting email
like mad lately... =o)

K.D.


                            The Coup in Pakistan

(The following brief article has been written on the basis of a telephone
conversation with a leader of the Pakistan Marxists at 11.00 am London
time, on 13th October)

The present coup was not unexpected. It had been in preparation for weeks
if not months. The deep crisis of Pakistan society, necessarily found an
expression in splits at the top of the army, and clashes between the army
and the government of Nawaz Sharif. Things came to a head over the
debacle
suffered by Pakistan in the recent Kashmir conflict. This was seen as a
humiliation for Pakistan, and Nawaz Sharif attempted to make the army
into
a scapegoat.

The perpetrators of the coup represent a so-called nationalist tendency
among the army chiefs. They pretend to be anti-American, and would have
been infuriated by Washington's pressure on Pakistan to back down over
Kashmir. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Pakistan is no longer seen
by
Washington as such an essential point of support in Asia. Consequently,
America has switched to backing India. Matters came to a head when Nawaz
Sharif attempted to dismiss general Pervaiz Musharraf, the Pakistan
Chief-of-Staff, while on a journey to Sri Lanka. Apparently they
attempted
to stop him from landing in Pakistan and his plane was forced to make an
emergency landing in Karachi airport where he was met by a large
contingency of soldiers.

So far the coup has been relatively peaceful, although it could have
turned
out to be a bloodbath. There was some shooting in Islamabad where rival
factions of the army and police fought each other briefly. However, the
mood of the masses has been quiescent. Some people expressed relief at
the
removal of the unpopular and reactionary Nawaz Sharif government, which
most Pakistanis learned from the television. The general mood is one of
indifference, although that can change depending on how events develop.

The plotters do not seem very sure of themselves. A statement was
promised
from general Musharraf, which took nine hours to materialise. Finally the
general appeared on television and spoke only for a few minutes, giving
no
real idea of what he intended to do. Most likely he does not know
himself!
The divisions in the army tops means that this dictatorship will probably
have an extremely weak and unstable character. They do not have many
options, but they do have a serious dilemma.

Having seized power by unconstitutional means, they must now decide what
to
do with Pakistan's constitution, which specifies the death penalty for
overthrowing the existing government. Since, presumably, the generals
have
not got tired of life there is no question of them standing down while
permitting the present constitution to continue. They must either suspend
it or abolish it, but the abolition of the constitution means martial
law,
and it is not clear whether they have sufficient strength to impose this.

It appears that a section of hard-liners would like to go all the way and
introduce a full dictatorship. In this they would have the enthusiastic
backing of the fundamentalists. However the faction around general
Musharraf, although extreme nationalists, are not directly linked to the
fundamentalists. Nevertheless, pressure is building up among a section of
the army leadership to take action against Nawaz Sharif and other Muslim
League leaders. The question has even been raised of expropriating their
wealth, although in practice this will probably remain just hot air.

The Americans are watching all these events with considerable alarm. In
recent years, the policy of American imperialism and the CIA has
undergone
a change. They no longer favour coups and military dictatorships, having
burned their fingers with such regimes on more than one occasion. It is
sufficient to recall the US's conflict with general Noriega in Panama to
illustrate this point. It is even possible that the CIA had a part in the
assassination of general Zia, the last Pakistan dictator about ten years
ago. Washington now prefers weak "democratic" regimes which they can more
easily pressurize and control. Therefore the present coup in Pakistan was
immediately condemned by the Americans and (naturally) their stooges in
London.

Lacking any perspective, the so-called anti-American nationalists who
have
seized power in Islamabad have immediately entered into negotiations with
the US embassy. Given the bankrupt state of Pakistan's economy,
Washington
is in a position to apply heavy pressure which may result in some kind of
compromise. Possibly, Musharraf will suspend the constitution, alleging
some pressing reason of state, enlist the services of Pakistan judges
(always ready to support the winning side) to provide this with some
legal
camouflage, and then set up some kind of interim government with a view
to
handing back power to civilian politicians at a later date.

However, this is only one possibility. Given the deep crisis of Pakistan
capitalism, anything is possible. If a compromise is not reached and
negotiations with the Americans break down, the hard line faction may get
the upper hand and move in the direction of imposing martial law, with
all
that that means for the labour movement and working class of Pakistan.
Since independence the army has ruled Pakistan for nearly half of its 52
year history. These military dictatorships have always been characterised
by their brutal suppression of the Trade Unions, the PPP and the working
class in general. There is no reason to suppose that this time would be
any
different.

Alan Woods
October 13, 1999

See also:

   * Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign


                    Urgent appeal to all trade unionists



Dear Comrades,

The situation in Pakistan is extremely unstable. The military have
deposed
the civilian government. Now a power struggle is taking place within the
regime itself. The outcome of this is not clear, but one of the options
is
the declaration of martial law. The deposed civilian government was hated
by the masses. It was carrying out a vicious programme of cuts and
privatisations. On top of this it was an extremely corrupt
administration.

In this situation the military are portraying their coup as a necessary
measure to defend the well-being of the country. But we know from past
experiences what a military regime would mean. I myself suffered the
brutality of the last military dictatorship of General Zia, when I was
imprisoned and tortured.

A return to military rule would mean the destruction of the few
democratic
rights that remain in Pakistan. The trade unions have already suffered
greatly in the past period. Trade union leaders have been assassinated.
Shop stewards have been victimised. That is why we originally set up the
Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign.

Now we face the task of taking all precautionary security measures to
protect our trade union activities. We are already in the process of
doing
this. I am sure you will be aware of what this involves. We have to move
material away from our offices and also move prominent figures of our
movement to safe places. All this costs money and we in Pakistan have
very
little resources to do this.

Therefore I am appealing to you to donate whatever you can to the
Pakistan
Trade Union Defence Campaign. We have an account in London and our
representatives will give you all the necessary details.

At the same time I would call on your organisation to raise a protest
about
what is happening with your government and with the diplomatic
representatives of Pakistan (Embassies, High Commissions, etc.).

We have to make it clear to the generals that the international labour
movement will not sit idly by when its sister organisations are being
persecuted in Pakistan.

Counting on your solidarity,



Shahida Jabeen,
Secretary,
Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign,
Lahore, Pakistan
12th October 1999

Write and send donations to:

PO Box 6977,
London, N1 3JN,
England






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