Socialism in Pakistan
While capitalism has always held its sway, the prevalence of the socialist ideology has nevertheless continued to be found in a number of instances in Pakistan's political past and prominent personalities.
[2] Immediately after the establishment of Pakistan on 14 August 1947 which was achieved by a political party, Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the struggle for left-wing orientation began as a failure of the military campaign with the Republic of India.
[3] After Jinnah's death in 1948, the clash ideologies and political disagreements began when Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan consolidated his position more densely.
[3] Dismayed with the results of the war, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan survived a coup conspiracy hatched by the left-wing personalitie, including the armed forces personnel.
[7] In contrast, the Communist Party was more active, populist, and had support from the rural class due to its tough position taken on economic and social issues.
[8] The Communist Party quickly grasped its popularity as it espoused the causes of Pakistan's farmers and labourers against the nexus of zamindars, princely class, and landed gentry.
[10] After martial law in 1958, President Ayub Khan abandoned the parliamentary form in favour of presidential system– a system called "Basic Democracy.
"[15] Further, President Khan's peaceful compromise with India in 1965 to end the Indo-Pakistani War created large scale disapproval from civil society.
[18] The PPP's manifesto called, titled "Islam is our Religion; Democracy is our Politics; Socialism is our Economy; Power Lies with the People", was written by Bengali communist J.
[18] The manifesto identified the party's ultimate goal, main objective and raison d'etre as being the achievement of an egalitarian and "classless society", which was believed to be attainable only through socialism.
[20][25] The election gave the Awami League an absolute majority entirely based in East Pakistan, while the PPP, led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, won largely in Punjab and Sindh.
However, General Yahya Khan, along with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the leader of the PPP, were against a party from East Pakistan leading the federal government.
[31] In responding to strong defence program, the PPP launched the clandestine atomic bomb project, promoting literary activism, industrial developments and scientific awareness in all over the country.
Though, the PPP had won the support from people on the issues of social justice, its economic policies, particularly that of its ad hoc attempts at nationalization, stagflated the country's economy.
[21] A number of critics, notably the conservatives and hard-line religious leaders, have however blamed Bhutto's socialist policies for slowing down Pakistan's economic progress, owing to poor productivity and high costs.
[32] Tensions mounted and despite an agreement reached between the opposition and PPP, martial law was imposed in the country by Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq in 1977.
[34] The left-wing parties and socialism in the country met with harsh political opposition from the conservative Pakistan Muslim League and the hard-line religious bloc Clergy Coalition.
[35] The seeds of a renewed Marxist politics was planted in 1980 in Netherlands, when a number of leftist Pakistani activists who had fled Pakistan to escape Zia's repression found themselves in Amsterdam in the cold November 1980.
[37] The Struggle group continued their activism in exile against military dictatorship in Pakistan and went on to organise a mass funeral for Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in front of the Pakistani embassy in Holland with nearly 500 participants.
[citation needed] The Struggle followed a strategy known as Entryism, a theory that small militant groups should join mainstream workers' parties in order to pull them to the left.
Peter Taaffe, a prominent member of English section of the CWI advocated an "Open Turn", implying the building of an independent organization and an end to "Entryism".
They promoted the idea that PPP is a party that has a mass following among the workers and peasants, although its leading layer is composed mainly of bourgeois and feudal elements.
In responding the Zia's oppression, the left-wing parties united in a massive platform known as, Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) which was led by the PPP.
[55] The MRD alliance could not sustained itself in late 1988 and quickly collapse after the death of President Zia-ul-Haq in 1988 which marked its way for peaceful general elections, outlined the return of Pakistan Peoples Party in national power.
[18] In the 1990s, the left-wing groups, now united under PPP, found their self in a fierce competition with Pakistan Muslim League (PML(N)), a centre-right conservative party led by Nawaz Sharif.
[18] In response, the Pakistan Muslim League and conservatives introduced privatization, with liberalization, right-wing nationalism, and a strong emphasis on religion and scientific education.
In 1997, the Left, sitting in parliamentary opposition, further gained power in effectively paralysed the right-wing parties attempts to pass the more conservative bills to be part of the Constitution.
As an aftermath of 9/11 attacks in the United States and the followup of US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the general elections in 2002 saw liberals coming to national power for the first time in the history of the country.
In spite of right-wing pressure and accusations of corruption, the Left demonstrated its united stand during the general elections held in 2013 under new left-wing leaders Raza Rabbani and Aitzaz Ahsan[64] Though a number of steps were taken in this regard by the government led by Asif Ali Zardari which included but are not limited to, Employees Stock option scheme under which public sector employees were made share holders in their respective departments, free of cost housing scheme was initiated in Sindh under the name of Benazir Bhen Basti, more than 56,000 acres of land was distributed within the peasants, a comprehensive plan for the eradication of poverty was started under the name of Benazir Income Support Program which is now one of the largest social safety program in Asia.
Red) gained much appraisal and popularity for singing socialist political song, which played a crucial role in mobilizing the people in support to the reinstatement of the Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in 2007.
