LAHORE: A book titled, Rule By Fear: Eight Theses on Authoritarianism in Pakistan, by Ammar Ali Jan was launched at the Dorab Patel Auditorium of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Sunday.

The book raises a number of issues that stop the democratic institutions and norms from taking root in Pakistan. It has eight theses, explaining political, economic and social causes of authoritarianism in the country.

Dr Aliya Haider from Haqooq-e-Khalaq Movement moderated the book launch. She introduced the writer and commented on the state of affairs in the country. “The country is in the worst crisis, a glimpse of which could be seen in the Sialkot incident of which the whole country is ashamed of,” Ms Haider mourned.

Baba Latif, Sara Kazmi, Muhammad Tehseen and Farooq Tariq were speakers on the occasion.

Baba Latif shared with the audience how he started his movement and support for labourers back in 2003 from a mohallah of Faisalabad. He talked about the hindrances and difficulties he and his companions faced during that struggle of supporting the labourers in an effort to get them their rights and how he started the Labour Quami Movement from Faisalabad. He termed the book worth reading.

Sara Kazmi, a professor at LUMS, throwing light on the book said the book talked about the present struggles, updates on the left and talked about issues related to women. The book, she added, also discussed the Pushtoon movement, the role of establishment the moral panic which had gripped society and going through and feminist movement. She said the politics of the left needed to be attached with anti-colonialism.

Muhammad Tehseen from South Asia Partnership Pakistan said the book had been written for the ordinary activists and it should be read by all students. He suggested that it book should also be translated into Urdu. To Tehseen, the titles of different chapters of the book were quite interesting. The gist of the book was that one should have the power of saying ‘No’.

Tehseen condemned the Sialkot incident, saying the incident could be avoided had there been a timely police action. He also called for a united front as suggested in the book to raise the voice for the oppressed without discretion of race and religion.

Farooq Tariq, the president of the Kissan Rabta Movement, talked about the inequality and that of authoritarianism as discussed in the book. He said the writer in this book had tried to link the issues of the country with the international issues. The book, he said, was a guide for the politics of the left. He announced the Haqooq-i-Khalaq Movement would soon be registered as a political party.

The writer, Ammar Ali Jan, said struggles were like lessons one learnt from each struggle. Praising women who supported his cause, he said women remained on the front row in all campaigns. Jan said the first party he joined was the Labour Party and termed Farooq Tariq was his mentor.

He said the elite in the country had got its own privileges and perks.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2021