The State Strikes Back - followup on the PTCL workers union strike

Many expected this to take a bit of time but the State pulled a surprise this past Saturday. The Rangers moved in to occupy all PTCL installations in the country and the Army signals core moved in to take over operations so that the workers could no longer disrupt lines of communication.

The protests that had ended with so much promise a week earlier and had the potential of churning out something substantive for the direction the economic policies of Pakistan are headed ended in violent suppression. Hundreds of union leaders and members have had to go underground, hundreds more have been arrested, tens have been fired from their jobs, the press has even filed a news item about a 15 year old boy that has been picked up and detained by the security agencies. Intelligence agencies are being kept busy by harassing families of employees driving many more underground. The army seems to have come into its own now as further suppression is on the cards over the coming days.

The aggression and blatant suppression of a peaceful, democratic protest movement, which was lead by thousands of concerned workers, supported by hundreds of thousands of others from all over the country, has been denied its fundamental right to protest. The Union can thank its lucky stars that this is not Uzbekistan but Pakistan is headed towards that model since the military does have the blessings of the US. If enough dissent is shown in this country, the military will not hesitate to bare its fangs.

The Union is now deeply embroiled in the confrontational stage of the conflict and violence has also been introduced into the equation by the Pakistan army and so called democratic and freedom loving neo-liberals of Pakistan. A large umbrella of concerned organizations and unions has been formed as a group, which is going to combat the drive to privatization. Some of these organizations who have links and with international donor agencies, which already espouse the neo-liberal agenda, so one cannot be certain of the extent and honesty of support. Although the union is in dire need of support I think that they had better not look for support beyond other workers Unions and stick it out on their own. The sooner they get politicized the better. Radicalization of this union is no longer an option and seems like more of a certainty in the upcoming months. I see the survival of workers rights and livelihoods in radicalization, especially since the military has cut the ribbon on this race.

All said about the rude shock that the Union has suffered it is time to get its act together. It is serious about its objectives and we already know that it is organized enough to take on the state in this case. The sooner the debate is brought into the macro perspective and the workers wage the war not only on the PTCL front but on the Nationalization-Privatization front, the better their chances will be of success.

Many critics of a national economy would like to enforce privatization as solution to the economic ills of Pakistan. However I maintain that horror stories associated with neo-liberal privatization are far too many. After the collapse of the Soviet Union the neo-liberals received a free hand to do as they pleased in the world and did exactly that. The best example is the US ‘backyard’ of Latin America. From 1991-2002 all countries were subject to fanatical neo-liberal market reforms and by 2002 countries like Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile hit the world headlines as classic representatives of failed economies. Over the past couple of years leftist governments have swept the continent and nationalizing the key industries in their respective countries has brought these countries back on track. For instance, Chavez has performed a miracle by eradicating illiteracy in his country with a national economy in matter of a few years.

It is saddening to note that here, the privatisation is preached as gospel and dissidence is subject to violent oppression. The sooner we flip the coin and examine both sides of it, will a way to economic progress be found. What the government/military is up to of late is all a sham.