LAHORE: In a bid to reactivate themselves politically, the groups belonging to the Left held a public meeting on Sunday in a show of ‘no-confidence’ in the governance system in vogue.

Assembled under the banner of the Haqooq-e-Khalq Movement (HKM) at the Nasser Bagh, they pledged to become a political alternative for the working classes whose voice was being ignored by the mainstream political parties. They vowed to work for ending the ‘welfare state’ status for the rich and making the working class as the third force in national politics.

Bringing together working people from across Lahore as well as from Murdike, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh and Kot Addu, the HKM promised that it would put working classes at the centre of local and national politics, instead of the small groups of the elite fighting out amongst each other to grab power.

It announced that the HKM would be registered as a party and that it would contest all local and national elections while fielding candidates from working people.

HKM chief Ammar Ali Jan, rights activist Hina Jilani, Farooq Tariq, Farrukh Suhail Goindi, Irfan Mufti, Rabbiya Bajwa advocate and others spoke.

Holds public rally of groups of the Left; rejects current system of democracy

Mr Jan said [Imran Khan’s] stage in Islamabad public meeting displayed representatives of the land, sugar and education mafias and the landlords while the Nasser Bagh stage was set by the people from the working class and the localities like Kot Lakhpat, Chungi Amar Sidhu, Shahdara, Muridke etc.

He rejected the governance system in vogue called democracy, saying those born with silver spoons in their mouths were spending over Rs200m to win a National Assembly seat. He said that the HKM would bring about true national unity, in opposition to the ‘separatist’ elite that lived in gated housing schemes and that had built separate health and educational facilities for itself.

Ammar Ali Jan said Pakistan was not a poor country but the wealth of the poor was being stolen and put in the coffers of the rich. He added that only the elite in Pakistan received subsidies and packages, which meant that Pakistan was in reality a welfare state for the rich. He promised that the unity of working populations would bring about true democracy and rights back to them.

Ms Jilani said the political and economic situation of the country had never been worse than the present times, putting democracy at stake.

Warning the ‘selectors’ not to indulge in the ‘selection’ again, she urged the masses to always stand for human rights for the future of their children and the country.

Commenting on the events in Islamabad, Farooq Tariq said the people of Pakistan would say good riddance if Imran Khan was ousted but they also knew that the opposition had no social or economic alternative for them. He said both the government and opposition were paying people to go with them to Islamabad for their respective rallies but the real working people of Lahore had come to the HKM Jalsa because it represented their real voice.

Ms Bajwa said problems of the masses could be solved only through political movements, like the one being launched by the HKM, which could raise the issues of the labourers, peasants and women.

The participants carried red flags and placards inscribed with their demands like saying no hike in educational institutions’ fees, change the system not faces, revolution incomplete without the voice of women etc.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2022