Other Impressions of the WSF-A Political Opinion

Much of what Tariq Ali writes in Counterpunch about WSF, Karachi is correct, in particular about the media (http://www.counterpunch.org/tariq03282006.html). It is exploding. There is a new channel everyday and there is a kind of illusionary openness to criticisms of the government. An interview show hosted by a man who dresses in drag and goes by the name Begum Nawzish is quite subversive. But all this goes hand in hand with bids for foreign investments and neo-liberalism.

I also agree that this event, pulled off by Karachi, without incident was a ratings boost for Karachi the corporation. ARY television network admitted that hosting the WSF was excellent for Karachi’s image. Instead of seeing it as an event of oppressed peoples and their movements, it was portrayed by Media and seen by many delegates as an international open forum that furthered free speech and liberal democratic values, and Karachi’s modernity. Many in media mislabelled it a celebration/festival and newspapers were not writing about the political sessions and their content.

The sense of people’s movements and oppression was unrealized at many levels. In a seminar on Kashmir, where Yasin Malik of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front was one of 15 or so speakers, the host, Hameed Haroon, of Dawn newspapers, clamped down on sloganeers who interrupted (but not disruptively) a speaker. These were students from Gilgit and Baltistan who felt their regions should be free from Pakistan. Hameed’s intervention was that of someone who considers all youth and students troublemakers. Considering that they were not represented, his profession of freedom of expression came across as weird, non political, and bourgeois. (The same seminar was late held at Jinnah Auditorium as an "invitation only".) Hameed, pompously, also took a minute to correct a speaker when he called him Haroon Rashid (a Pakistani sports figure).

Yasin Malik was quoted in a newspaper as saying that Arundhati Roy did not come to this event as she felt it was being taken over by intellectuals and instead should have been about ordinary people. I agree. But I do think that there were elements – about ordinary people – and spaces within the forum where someone interested in movements could really make key connections. I personally found it very useful in terms of connecting with people, organizing with working class people, fisher folk, farmers, laborers, (home based and factory). It almost felt like you could spend the entire time within NGOized spaces or not. I didn’t NGOize my experience which unfortunately meant missing out on a lot of the women’s, minorities, HIV/AIDS, post earthquake events. I also missed out on many international events around anti-war. A session I walked in the very first day had hijras (male or intersex person who is considered a member of "the third sex") doing theatre on condom use. She said it was important to use protection in sex between men and women, women and men, and then, quite openly she said “men and men”. The space created was quite women friendly, even gay friendly, and protest oriented.

About ordinary people - I spoke to members of Labor Party, Pakistan and attended several sessions organized by the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF). Both parties along with Mazdoor Kisaan groups had brought workers, peasants, and fishing community people to the event. In fact there were more working class people at WSF than yuppies. They had organized buses, made it a point to bring women, and did gist translations of English language speeches. Fisherfolk events were all preceded by lunch that included a packet of student biryani, banana, juice, and zarda dessert. They had at least two full time activists who spoke fluent Sindhi, Urdu and English and who were of their community. There was not a single person listening to their seminars who was not from the fishing community. The activists knew that, and gave us, unfairly, a lot of attention.

They (PFF organizers) said they are organizing around four to five key issues: corporatization of seas (for e.g. foreign companies using disruptive technologies, overfishing, displacing indigenous workers in seas), drying up of Indus Delta, (lakes like Manchar and Kinjhir that were livelihoods and home for thousands are affected by water diversions from the Indus), acute water shortage in Sindh, detentions of Indian/Pakistani fisherfolk by Navy, environmental degradation of waters, the building of big dams (Kalabagh and Bhasha which PFF feels will benefit Punjab and further dry up the inland fishing areas). They have 25,000 members and maybe even more. Pakistani Fisherfolk Forum is a group to follow. www.pff.org.pk

Karachi’s intelligentsia, NGO glitterati, personality cultists, people enchanted by Roy, Chomsky, Tutu, Jehangir did not come to PFF events. But for many of the people who did come, especially students, it was a refreshing and unique experience to meet Palestinian activists, to hear Tariq Ali, and potentially Desmond Tutu, Dalai Lama, and Arundhati Roy (who were expected but were no shows). Jamal Jumma visiting from Palestine, of Stop the Wall Coalition, was always surrounded by people, media and others – many trying to talk to him/them in broken Arabic. The Palestinian delegation was by far the most popular non Pakistani delegation.

Tariq Ali, Asma Jehangir and Brazilian, French and Ecuadorian members of WSF International spoke at the plenary. The plenary was hosted by Karamat Ali of PILER a labor NGO. The beats were Bulla and Bhittai – age old performances of Pakistani folk flavour. Except now in a post-Junoon world, Bulla and Bhittai variety Sufism is seen as more radical. Karachi culture was highlighted at WSF - hence it is interesting to note the huge class element to music. There are the folk followers who are largely working class and their music has not evolved (much) while there is an explosion of yuppie/fusion music among upper middle class youth (which goes with the media explosion).

On Monday, I sat through and event put together by the PRM. This is the Peoples Resistance Movement. It is hard to say what this group is doing and who is what. The facts that emerge are – they are trying to be an umbrella to labor, anti-military, katchi abadi, nationalist (Baluchi, Sindhi, Saraiki), and anti-(mega)dam groups; their event did bring together these various groups; and they are non sectarian. Some members of Labor Party, Pakistan said their party is Trotskyite. PRM works with them but is not.

People’s movements are necessarily ethnic based because of region. Fisherfolk are Sindhi, Makrani, and Baluchi. Labor activism seemed more heavily Punjabi and Urdu speaking. Baluch and Sariaki people are organized around rights for their people. (There were Baluchi peoples’ groups present. I did not get a chance to talk to them and hence did not get a sense of whether they have a critique of Bugti/Marri/Menagl leadership, or express solidarity with them.) PRM’s event and others made it a point to emphasize unity among all ethnicities against establishment, corporate globalization, and military repression.

I had some other interesting conversations with Labor Party (LP) people. Lahore group is working for 8 hour workday and Rs. 7,000 per month for brickmakers (bhatta workers), as well as registration of bhattas (which would end bonded labor and exploitation by bhatta owners). Karachi group is doing political education in katchi abaadis on how to form unions and fight for rights. A member told me they have 25 political education schools in Karachi (9 of these for women), and on average, 50 people attend every night. LP had several publications (Jeddojuhd publications). One was entitled, “The Great PTCL (Pakistan Telecommunications) Strike 2005 against Privatization.” (The strike was supported by 62,000 workers and lasted 10 days in May-June 2005 and was successful in delaying the privatization bidding process until a later time when the military used repressive techniques including arrests and takeover of PTCL building to move the privatization process forward.) LP has a weekly magazine called “jeddojuhd” which have articles by Roy and Tariq Ali, but also cover their organizing.

On one day, I hooked up with some Indian delegates – they wanted the low-down on sights and sounds, and many had visited before as part f the Pakistan India people to people groups. Among their speakers were Sandeep Pandey of Asha, Arundhati Duru who works with NBA, Preeti Sampath of a mazdoor kisan unity organization, and Subhashini Ali (wife of Muzaffar Ali, maker of film Umrao Jan) of CPI-Marxist.

All in all, even though WSF may have helped Karachi’s image for the very forces of oppression it stands against and not threatened them in the least, it was a big deal. It was politicizing, and consciousness raising for many people. Mobilized by the recent earthquake with a desire to do something (maybe even to just help) there were hundreds of student volunteers. At least this provided some political channel/outlet to these people to think about oppression, to connect with movements and even NGOs, to chant and watch rallies, and to get beyond the dominant framing of such work as “social work”. It isn’t everyday that youth and workers come together in such forums It isn’t every day that people from all classes even have the opportunity to sit together to hear Tariq Ali, Asma Jehangir and meet Palestinian activists - especially in Karachi where people are starved for such engagement. Karachi is not Cambridge where you will end up hearing Fisk, Chomsky, Ali, Zinn, Roy, Jehangir if you stick around long enough. I think WSF will have left much more than a feeling that it happened in Karachi.