Pakistan: Cracks in the reactionary monolith

Lal Khan

The masses know, consciously or unconsciously, that Islamic fundamentalism and US imperialism are two sides of the same coin The statement of Munawar Hasan, chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on martyrdom and the fierce reaction by the Pakistan army reveals nothing but the rottenness of the Pakistani ruling class, its state and politics. The army quickly demanded an apology and the JI’s subsequent response of “intervention in politics” by the army is quite sardonic. Historically, the JI is known as the most organised Islamic party, having close ties with the Pakistani state and US imperialism. In the decades of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the JI was active as a vicious representative of the domestic and international right wing. Its student wing, the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, has always been used as a tool by the state and imperialism against left wing student organisations. After the victory of Gamal Abdul Nasser in the 1956 Suez war against Britain, France and Israel, the slogan of Arab Socialism was echoing in one country after another in the Middle East. Like the Arab Revolution of 2011, a revolutionary wave swept across the whole region in the 1950s and 1960s, sweeping aside old puppets of imperialism and replacing them with left-leaning parties and leaders in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Algeria and other Arab countries. These left wing governments under enormous pressure of the masses embarked on a process of large-scale nationalisation. This endangered imperialist interests in the Middle East, while the reactionary monarchies were trembling. To stem this revolutionary fervour against capitalism, the CIA started propping up Islamic fundamentalism. From Indonesia to Egypt, Islamic fundamentalist parties were strengthened as a counter-revolutionary force through financial and political support. The real creator of this Islamic fundamentalism was the US president Dwight Eisenhower’s secretary of state, John Foster Dulles. Dulles himself was a Christian fundamentalist and pathologically detested communism. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Nahdat-ul-Ulema (which played a key role in killing over a million communists and trade unionists in 1965) in Indonesia were contraptions of this reactionary onslaught. In Pakistan, the JI was the centre of this imperialist policy. This explains why it remained hand in glove with military dictatorships. The 1968-69 revolutionary movement of the masses in Pakistan swept across both wings of the country. But after the abdication of the movement by Maulana Bhashani and other left wing leaders, this class movement was derailed on nationalist lines and was ensnared by Mujibur Rehman’s Awami League. In the civil war that followed, the atrocities and massacres of the Bengali masses committed by the Pakistan army in connivance with the vigilantes of the JI in the shape of its armed wings — Al Badar and Al Shams — were carried out with vicious brutalities against innocent people. The deep involvement of the JI in this ‘Operation Blitz’ is revealed in the book, The Indo-Pak War by Major General Hakeem Arshad Qureshi, who was a battalion commander in the Dinapur district of East Pakistan during the operation. He narrates: “Maulana Tufail Mohammad (Amir) of the Jamaat-e-Islami visited us after the military action...The Maulana was particularly concerned about the performance of the ‘razakaars’ (volunteers) belonging to his party... He jokingly remarked that his party cadres had always come to the rescue of the Army in tough situations.” The first Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government embarked upon a welfare programme for the masses and reforms were introduced in health, education, transport and other sectors through massive nationalisation. The JI came out against these reforms and supported the feudals and capitalists against the PPP. The JI had the full backing of US imperialism. The JI spearheaded the Pakistan National Alliance movement against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, which led to the military coup and hanging of Bhutto. This was organised on a religious basis and was actively supported by the Pakistani ruling classes and US imperialism. They not only supported the vicious dictatorship of Ziaul Haq but also played like a B-team of that brutal dictator. During this dark period of history, the military used the JI and its vigilantes in intimidating, arresting and torturing political activists. The Saur Revolution of April 27, 1978 in Afghanistan (18 months before the invasion of the Soviet forces) under the leadership of Noor Muhammad Tarakai of the Khalq Party threatened the interests of landlords, capitalists and imperialists in the whole region. To sabotage this revolutionary government in Kabul, which was making huge efforts for the downtrodden masses, the CIA initiated the ‘Dollar Jihad’, flooding the area with dollars managed by the ISI and distributed through the JI to its sister organisation Hizb-e-Islami led by Gulbadin Hikmetyar. But when huge sums of money started pouring in for this “Jihad” through smuggling of narcotics, many other obscurantist sects and organisations jumped on the bandwagon for this loot. The clergy became rich overnight and were riding SUVs instead of bicycles. With the withdrawal of the Soviet forces, imperialist funding suddenly came to an end. That was replaced by the multibillion dollar business of smuggling narcotics and arms, resulting in many of these groups not only turning against US imperialism but also against each other. Zia’s generals were deeply involved in that criminal business network, but the proxies fragmented and clashed in the lust for a greater share of black money. The JI remained and still is an integral part of this harrowing orgy of bloodshed and terror. The JI’s frustration with the US is in part due to dollar supplies drying up and in part due to the contradiction of the pro-US and anti-US factions of the Pakistani state, particularly within the military. In the absence of mass left wing forces, religious parties are struggling among themselves to exploit the anti-imperialist sentiments of the people. In this cutthroat competition, vitriolic statements like Munawar Hasan’s are a part of that process. To recapture the intoxication of potent power enjoyed with the patronage of imperialism and the Pakistani army, the JI, a party that always remained a fifth column of the army, has come out in open conflict with an important faction of the army. However, the support of the JI and other religious parties among the masses is very fragile and limited. The masses know, consciously or unconsciously, that Islamic fundamentalism and US imperialism are two sides of the same coin. The JI is doomed either way. If it withdraws its statement it will face the wrath of religious extremists, and if it does not it will face the severe displeasure of the generals. Religious parties and US imperialism, the liberal and secular rulers are all on board on the preservation of this capitalist system because their vested interests rest in it. These conflicts are temporary and superficial. The JI and army cannot do without each other. Let us not be in any doubt; as in the past, these forces of dark reaction will unite to save this system in the wake of a rising revolutionary movement of the oppressed. The working classes will have to unite to dislodge this reactionary monolith for its emancipation and should ignore this pseudo-wrangling.