Daily Times

Sir: Recently a write up was published in this newspaper’s letters to the editor section, with the title ‘Elections 2018 — Awami Worker’s Party (AWP) can bring real change’. In response to the writer, I would like to ask them whether the ‘Left’ in Pakistan even exists today.

It is a fact that progressive individuals have made great sacrifices in providing the working people in our country the rights they deserved. The Leftists in the nation gave them the power to unionize, through which they could unite against the oppression they had to endure at the hands of rich and powerful businessmen, and landlords. They also gave our minority provinces the authority to demand a greater share from the central government, in order to end the hegemony enjoyed by Punjab in the country. I salute and admire their great sacrifice.

The AWP was formed with the aim to improve the lives of the working class and fight for social justice, but in reality, these concepts are mere fantasies. In the end the AWP’s ideals seem shaky, and their interests seem bourgeois, as most of its leaders enjoy luxurious lifestyles that set them apart from the downtrodden segments of society they claim to fight for in the first place. They would rather visit a foreign country, than explore their own nation, yet they also oppose imperialism. How can that be possible?

If we take a look back at the recent history of the Left in Pakistan, their actions seem ineffective and it seems they have disappeared in to the fringes of the political landscape today. Many a times the different Leftist groups in the nation try to unite in order to take on the might of the established political parties in the country, like the PML-N and the PTI, but to no avail. These alliances do not seem to last very long, and eventually dissolve in light of petty squabbles between the various groups.

In Pakistan, the so called Left has been hi-jacked by capitalists and elitists and it is time for us to acknowledge that the Left needs a reformation itself, before it can lead a revolution in the country.

They seem confused and fractured as a group, and need long and comprehensive planning for them to return to the political fold with a bang. There are many voices, and groups, crying out for social justice, yet they are not under one banner with one motto and one manifesto.

In order for them to be truly effective, they have to unite, form a proper strategy to fight the influence of the centre, centre-right parties currently ruling the political landscape and get back to the grassroots by mingling and understanding their constituents, before expecting them to vote for the Left. .

SALMAN ALI

Sukkur

Published in Daily Times, July 11^th 2018.