the national awami party of pakistan leftist politics in crisis

8/3/2019 The National Awami Party of Pakistan Leftist Politics in Crisis

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The National Awami Party of Pakistan: Leftist Politics in CrisisAuthor(s): M. RashiduzzamanReviewed work(s):Source: Pacific Affairs, Vol. 43, No. 3 (Autumn, 1970), pp. 394-409Published by: Pacific Affairs, University of British ColumbiaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2754219 .

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The NationalAwamiParty f Pakistan:Leftistoliticsn CrisisM. Rashiduzzaman

THEATIONAL AWAMI PARTY was thefirst oliticalrganisationnPakis-tan withan avowedly eftist rogramme.'Until the promulgationfmartial aw in October 958, it held the balanceof power n theEast andWest Pakistan egislatures;n the National Assembly t provided smallbutarticulateppositionwhichconstantly arpedupon anti-Westernolicyand dismembermentf "One Unit" in West Pakistan.This strategy adbeen, both at the centre nd in the provinces,o avoid holdingoffice. ffthefloors f the Houses, theNAP was determinedo make the "down-trodden" f societymore conscious f theirproblems.ts declared bjective

had been to launch an uncompromisingtruggle gainst mperialismndfeudalism.2MartialLaw in 1958was a set-back orthe NAP as it was forotherparties.Yet some of theworkers ontinued he party's ctivities n-derground.3 fter he ntroductionf the 962 Constitutionnd revival fpolitical ctivitiesn the countryhe NAP leaders oinedthe other pposi-tionpolitical arties o form heNational Democratic ront NDF) in thehopeof aunching unitedmovementgainst heAyubregime.4The NAP was eventually evived n i964 and since then has passedthrough everal rucial stages.First, t supported hecombined ppositionparties'presidentialandidate,Miss Fatima Jinnah,n i965 and latercon-tested he egislativelections hroughhe electoral ollegeconsistingfthe"Basic Democrats."Second, it organisedworkers nd peasantsand triedto give a new turnto theirmovement. hird,owingto internal actions,personal rivalries nd ideologicalconsiderations,he NAP divided intopro-Moscow Muzaffar Ahmed) and pro-Chinese Bhasani) groups inDecember i967. Fourth, the question of participationn the electionsscheduledto be held in October 970 has furtherwidened the gap be-

1 MushtaqAhmed,Governmentnd Politics n Pakistan,Karachi, 1963, p. i6i. At thetime of independencen I947, however,therewas one organisation alled DemocraticYouthLeague in East Pakistanwhichalso evidently ad a leftist rogramme. ubsequently,the workersof this organisationdentified hemselveswith the Awami Muslim Leaguewhichwas born in June 949. The Azad PakistanParty n West Pakistan ed by MianIftikharuddinas also knownas a leftist arty nd in 1957 it mergedwith theNAP.2Reportof the GeneralSecreatry,ast PakistanNAP CouncilSession,Dacca, i965.3 Ibid.4NationalDemocraticront pamphlet),Dacca, i962.394


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The NationalAwami Party f Pakistan:Leftist olitics n Crisistween hesewofactionsftheNAP: the ollowersfBhasanire lsonowdividednto t least hree ub-factions,ne of whichs directlypposedoelectionsndfavoursn mmediatermed roletarianevolution.

The NationalAwamiPartywas broughtntobeing n July957 byMaulanaAbdul HamidKhan Bhasani nd his leftist ollowers ho de-cided obreak wayfrom heparentAwamiLeague n order ohaveaplatformftheirwn.Over 00 leftistsf various anks rom ll over hecountryssembledtDacca to formhenewpoliticalarty.5he twomaincomponentsf henewparty ere he Bhasani-faction"f he astPakistanAwamiLeague and the left-wingajnatantrial (Democratic arty)whichwas formedn I953 andlateroined heelectorallliancewith heAwamiLeague and Krishak ramik Peasants and Workers) arty oform heUnited Front which defeated he MuslimLeague in I954. Themainobjectivesf the newpartywere: an independentoreign olicy,abrogationfmilitaryacts, egionalutonomy,issolutionfOne Unit nWest akistan,eorganisationf heWestWing nto numberfprovinceson a linguistic,ultural nd geographicalasis, nd the abolition f theZamindariystemn WestPakistan.6he creation f a separate oliticalpartywas accompaniedy the parallel ormationfNAP ParliamentaryPartiesntheCentralndProvincialegislatures.7TheNAP did notoriginate ith Marxistdeology. aulanaBhasani,theNAP leader, as never Marxistlthoughis deaswouldbring imnear o that articularamp.A life-longgitator,heMaulana stablishedthepartymore o organise rotestgainst hepro-Westernolicy f thegovernmenthan o establish arxistocialism.arty orkers ere uccess-ful n establishingheir rganisationaletworkn all thedistrictsf EastPakistan xcept he Chittagongill Tracts.8 heirmain strategyas tomalign he AwamiLeague as being n organisationf the urbanpettybourgeoisieommittedo their estednterests.9n practice,hough heNAP itselfwas also a party redominantlyed by urbanisedoliticiansrepresentingprofessionalnd landlordackground,'0t wasfarfrom e-coming party ftheproletariat.tsstudent ing-essentialoany redibleparliamentaryartynEastPakistan-washe astPakistan tudentsnion(EPSU).The fact hat heNationalAwami artywasnotbasicallyquipped ora class truggles establishedy tsdevelopments a partyince tsrevival

5 Morning News (Karachi), July 6, I957.6 Ibid.I bid., September7, I957.8Report of the General Secretary, p. cit.,p. 4.9KamruddinAhmed,Social History of East Pakistan,Dacca, i967.10West PakistanNAP leaders like Mian Iftikharuddin, . M. Syed and MahmudulHuq Usmani came fromrich andholder ackgrounds hereastheirEast Pakistani ounter-parts came fromteaching, usiness, aw and trade unionism.395


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Pacific ffairsin March 964. From 962 it had extended ull upport o theunited trugglefor herestorationf democratic ightsed by uchmen as H. S. Suhrawardy,Nurul Amin, Khawaja Nazimuddin, all undoubtedly rightists.""TheNational Democratic ront NDF) pledged tself o launch a countrywidemovement orthe establishmentf "unalloyed emocracy"n Pakistan nddemandedthe restorationf the 956 Constitution orthe establishmentfruleof law in the country.'2 t this tage, hen, he distinction etween heright nd left could hardlybe felt among all the opposition artieswhowerenow united gainst resident yubKhan's 962 Constitution.This unity oon provedto be illusory.No united ctioncould be effec-tively aunched by the NDF and later both the Awami League and theJamat-i-Islamererevived.This was a blow and the leftist lements elttheneed to reestablishheir eparate dentity nd hence the CentralCom-mitteedecided n March i964 to revive he NAP. After long period ofinaction,t wasno easy ob to revive political arty n a soundfooting. heold leadership f the NAP was no longer effective. he organisationalloyalty f itsmembers ad weakened.Mahmud Ali, the General Secretaryof the East PakistanNAP defiedhis CentralCommittee's irectivess hewas more nclined owards he unitedoppositionwith the rightistshroughthe NDF. Soon he was expelled from the party, s were a number ofworkersn variousdistrictsn the grounds f alleged "activitiesgainst heparty.""3he NAP's firstttemptwas to riditself fitsown "rightwing."Althoughthepartywas revived, t was not sufficientlytrong o takeany major step entirely n itsown. The NAP extended o-operationo theCombinedOppositionParties COP) to nominateMiss FatimaJinnah stheir andidatefor thepresidential lections f i965. The nine-point OPprogrammewas accepted by the NAP even though t was in principleopposedto theproposal f establishingn Islamic social order n Pakistan,a conceptutterly ontradictoryo its declaredobjective f establishingsecular tate.'4 ater,theleaders onfessed hat t was a greatblunderfortheparty o compromisen sucha fundamentalssue.15 he mainobjectiveof the NAP in supportinghe electoral lliancewas to utilise heelectioncampaign or trengtheningtsorganisation.'6fter hedefeat fMissJinnah,the COP becameineffectivend it collapsedunderthe strainof internalfeuds.The NAP, however, ssuedits own election-manifestoortheNa-tionalAssemblylections hich mbodied hefollowingmainpoints:

11See also National Democratic Front: Declaration of Objectives, Dacca, 1964; andStatement of Nine Leaders (a Bengali pamphlet), Dacca, 1962.12 Ibid., p. 3.13 Reportof the General Secretary, p. cit.,p. 8.14 Ibid., p. II.15 Ibid.16 Ibid.,p. 13.

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The NationalAwami Party fPakistan:Leftist olitics n Crisis(a) To put nend odictatorshipnd stablishemocracy.(b) To release oliticalrisonersnd chievendividualreedom.(c) To improvehe tandardf ivingf he eople.(d) To achieveconomicndculturalrogressf he ountry.(e) To achieveull egionalutonomyor astPakistan.(f) To freehe ountryromhe lutchesfU.S. mperialism.'7The strengthf various oliticalartiesn theNationalAssemblys aresult f the 965 elections as as follows18PakistanMuslim eague Convention)Governmentarty) 129United arliamentaryarty 14NationalAwami arty 3Independentroup 5CouncilMuslim eague IIt is interestingonote hat he ppositionascompletelyoutednthiselection.he failuref theoppositionartiesanbe largelyttributedotherestrictedranchisend officialnfluence.argely isillusionedytheresultsf he lection,heNAP resolvedn anorganised assmovementorthe defeat f imperialism,chievementf democraticights nd pro-vincialutonomyndtheirolutionfthevarioustherroblemsacinghecountry.19uttheparty asnotyet onfidentf being bleto aunch nybigmovementnd argelyoncentratedn the bservancef"Protestays"onvarious ccasions.The Awami eaguegave newturn o PakistanoliticsnMarch966when temerged ith demand ormaximumegionalutonomymbodiedin theSix-Point rogramme.20he programmeecamepopularn EastPakistanndbyJune966sparkedff genuinemovementn theprovince.TheNational wami arty idnot ligntself ith he ix-pointovement

and instead ameoutwith ts own Fourteen-Pointrogramme hichreiteratedtsstand orprovincialutonomy,ivilrightsnddemocracy.2'"Anti-imperialism"as declaredo be the basisof thisprogramme,nemphasisot ikedbya significantroup ftheNAP whowanted irstogetridof theautocraticovernmentn thecountry.22nti-imperialism,accordingo thisgroup,wasnot trictlyelevanto thedomestictruggle.However, or ometime, directplit n thepartieswas avertedytheeffortsfMaulanaBhasani.17 ElectionManifestofEastPakistanNationalAwamiParty, acca, 965.18 See also Rashiduzzaman,The NationalAssemblyfPakistan nder 962 Constitution,"PacificAflairs,Winter,969-70.19Report ftheGeneral ecretary,p. cit., . 33.20 See also Six-PointProgramme:Our Rightto Live, Dacca, i966.21 Holiday,June 2, i966. (Holiday is an Englishweeklypublished romDacca whichsupportshepro-Bhasani AP).22 Ibid.

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PacificAffairsThe year 967 was eventfulortheNAP formore hanone reason.First,t markedhetransitionor heparty romhepoliticsf protestothe oliticsf rticulationndmobilisation.econdly,tprovedobe theyear

whenthe partywas completelyividednto twoseparateamps.As al-readynoted, heNAP was more ommittedo an anti-Westernoreignpolicyhan o real ocialism;tspolicy as not rientedowardshe rgani-sation f abour nd peasants. n the ndustrialabour ront,heSramik(labour)Federation as active n organisinghe workersn industrialareas.More nterestingnd novelwas the organisationf the peasants.Maulana Bhasaniwas personallynterestedn bringing is party losertothefarmers.nderhis eadership,peasant rontalled heEastPakis-tan Peasants' ociety as formedndits branchespread o theremotestcornersftheprovince.Someofthe ignificanteasant atheringsftheNAP wereheldthisyear. neofthemwas theEast Pakistan ute rowersonferenceeldon27 January967.23 t tabled numberf vitaldemands n behalf fthepeasants,ncluding fairprice or ute, he bolitionf and-holdingndmoney-lending,hereductionf taxes, heestablishmentf properrriga-tion ystems,ationalisationfthe utetrade nd release f political ri-soners.4 The provincialonferencef theEast Pakistan easants' ocietywas held at Kulaora in April 967, Mr.Abdul Haque, a disciple f MaulanaBhasani, eing hemovingpirit ehindt. The resolutionsassed n thisconferencelsoemphasisedheneedforpeasants' elfare nd weremoreor less dentical ith heearlier emands.25nothermportantatheringwas theSpecialCouncilSession f the East Pakistan easants' ocietyheld atRangpurn November967 whereMaulanaBhasani ategoricallydeclaredhat hemain bjectivefhisorganisationasthe stablishmentf26a socialistociety.

WhiletheNAP wastakinghismportanttep n extendingts nflu-ence n the ural reas y rganisinghe easants,he artyufferedserioussetback hennDecember967 itsplitnto wo eparateival odies. heanti-BhasaniactionftheEastPakistanNAP, also known s the"pro-Moscow"wing, ained round uringMaulanaBhasani'song llnessndhospitalization.n hisbid to savehisparty romhedivision,e calledspecialcouncil ession f the NAP at Rangpur n November 967, butthe"rebel" action efused o attend nd decided nstead o hold its own23 For detailssee East Pakistan ute GrowersConference,residentialpeechof MaulanaAbdul Hamid Khan Bhasani (Bengali pamphlet),Dacca, i967.24 Ibid.25 See also Resolutionsdopted n the Conferencef the East PakistanPeasants'Societyheldat Kulaora nApril, 967, Dacca, i967.26 See also Speech of Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani (Bengali pamphlet),Rangpur, 967.

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The National AwamiParty fPakistan:Leftist olitics n CrisisCouncilmeetingn Dacca on December 6 and I7.27 The announcementof the rival council sessionwas made by fourNAP leaders,ProfessorMuzaffarAhmed,Mr.Mohiuddin, ir HabiburRahman and Dewan Mah-bub Ali.28The splitof the NAP can be interpretedn variousways. n theeyesof the militant ro-Bhasani action, he dissidentwing was composedofthe bourgeois lements,nd this was demonstratedy theireagerness oestablish n alliancewith otherpartiesdominatedby landlords nd thebusiness lass.29 his characteristic ade theNAP dissidentsll themoreeager for an alliance with the right-wingppositionparties.The pro-Bhasanifaction f theparty laimed o be therepresentativesfthe peasantsand Labour.Now that heyhad alienated heir ourgeoise o-workers,heyknewtheyhad toworkharder mongst heproletariato strengthenhem-selves s a political orce.30The split n the East PakistanNAP gradually ffectedheWestPakis-tan NAP as well. In West Pakistan, hepro-Moscoweftist orce ed byMr. Wali Khan (the sonof theRed Shirt eaderAbdulGaffarKhan) wasfairly trong n the North West FrontierProvince.Soon Mr. Usmani,anothereftisteaderfromWest Pakistan, nd Mr. Wali Khan joined the"rebel"NAP of East Pakistan ed byProfessorMuzaffarAhmedand heldtheir irst ouncilmeetingn Peshawaron 30 June nd i July968. It wasin thisgatheringhat hepro-Moscow AP spelledoutits programmendpinpointedts differencesiththeothergroup.8' t was in thesamepartymeeting hat t first laimedthe status f a separate arty nd called itselfthePakistanNationalAwami Party.Several causes of the divisionwereindicatedndtheymaybe summed p as follows:

(i) The split n theNAP was not fortuitous.oliticaldifferencesnsuchvital ssuesas theattitude owards heruling lique,theformationfa unitedfront f all thedemocraticnd opposition orces nd the mmedi-ate objective f the partyhad troubled heparty or ome time.These dif-ferences eremanifestedn thefollowingorms:(a) NAP had alwaysheld thatthe governmentf the countrywas an autocraticcombinationf the big bourgeoisiend landlords nd that t was in theinterest fthe people that thisgovernmenthouldbe replacedby a democraticne. A groupinside the partyhad howeversuddenlydiscovered hatthe government as re-spectablynti-imperialistnd thereforeheiroppositiono it was qualified.(b) NAP had firmly ollowedthe policyof forging broad united front f all

27 Holiday,November 6, i967.28 Ibid.29 Ibid.30 Ibid.31 See also Resolutionsdoptedat the PakistanNational Awami PartyCouncilMeetingheld on 30th June nd ist July t Peshawar,Karachi, 967.

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Pacific ffairsthe democraticnd opposition orces n the basis of a minimum emocratic ro-gramme,cceptable o all the parties oncerned. ut the leaders f the radical"pro-Bhasani"group n the partyhad sabotaged hegrowth f the popularmovement.(c) NAP had declared ocialism s itsultimate oal, to be achieved hrough emo-craticmeans.Such a transitionrom apitalism o socialismwas essential n viewofthe peculiarsocioeconomic onditions f the country. ut the militant roup inthe partyhad deviated rom hisdeclared olicy, nd had thus owered heprestigeoftheNAP in the yes fthepeople.

(2) A large section f the Party n both parts f thecountry ad firmlystoodtheirgroundagainstthisgroup and itserroneous olicies nd triedto uphold the acceptedprogramme nd policies of the party.Eventually,the "deviationist roup" was forcedto form a parallelorganisation,lsocalledNationalAwamiParty.(3) The mostunfortunatend damaging ffect f thesplitwas feltbythe most rogressive"ection fthe democraticamp."32The "Bhasani-NAP" thencirculated booklet refutingll the pointsmade by the "Muzaffar-Wali han NAP" and stronglysserted ts ownstand nvariousspectsf its olicy.33 Itsauthor, ohammad ultan,wasthe acting ecretaryf theEastPakistanNAP (Bhasani) and his pointsmaybe summed p as follows:(a) It was incorrect o say that the followers f Maulana Bhasaniwere "soft" nthe Ayub regime. n fact, NAP was the only politicalparty n Pakistanwhichconsistantlyought gainst he Ayubregime or tspro-Imperialistolicy.(b) The NAP was opposedto the Awami League six-pointrogrammes it onlydemandedregionalautonomy or East Pakistan and did not oppose imperialismandfeudalism.(c) The NAP believed n the democratic overnmentf the people which couldonlybe establishedfter uttingn end to imperialismndfeudalism. he "slogans"of parliamentaryemocracyan onlyreplace ne governmentyanother utcannotestablish real "democracy f the people" freefrom"exploitation".he NAPwantedonlythatkind of democracy hich would be in the real interestsf thepeople.(d) Those who brokeaway fromthe parentorganisationnd formed counterNAP were "defectors"nd they hould not be considered loss to theparty. hedeparturef suchelementswouldonlystrengthenheorganisation iththesupportof morecommittedollowers.34

An examination f the circumstancesf the split n the NAP revealswhat thepro-Moscow action toodfor. t was clearly ortheestablishmentof socialismthroughdemocraticmeans.35For all practicalpurposes temerged s a parliamentaryarty eady ocontest lectionswith manifesto

32 Ibid.33Mohammad ultan,Hold theFlag ofNAP abovefactional olitics a Bengalibooklet).Dacca, i968.34 Ibid.35 PakistanNationalAwamiParty:deology, bjectiv'esndProgramme,acca, 1968.

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The NationalAwamiParty f Pakistan:Leftist olitics n Crisisof its own. It called for a neutral oreign olicy nd withdrawal rom hepacts and treatieswhich Pakistan had enteredwith the U.S. and otherpro-western ountries. t also declared that feudalism n various formsshould be abolished nd that andlords' urplus and would be distributedamongthepeasants.36 here was also a variety f proposals ntheobjectivesof thepartywhich, n substance, mount to a programme or a welfarestate.87While thepro-MoscowNAP clearly ame forwardwitha programmefordemocratic ocialism,heBhasani NAP had, so far, onfinedtself nlyto thepolemics f socialism. ven now it is difficulto say exactlywhat tstandsfor.One thing s clear: theBhasani-NAP wantsto establish so-cialist rder.But how? Through democraticmeans? Maulana Bhasaniandhis followers peakfordemocracy ut they nterprett differentlyrom tsmeaning n the western ountries. y democracy hey eem to mean the"economic reedom" f a Communist ociety.38It was from his concept f democracy hat thedifferenceetween hetwofactions f theparty rose.Therewas also a clearmilitancybouttheinfluence f the United States n Pakistan. t was arguedthatmanyoftheevils in Pakistanarisingfromfeudalism nd monopoly apitalism ouldlargely e attributedo theinfluence f theUnited States.39 he Bhasani-NAP's supplementaryrganisation-the ast Pakistan PeasantsSociety-was equallybitter boutthe nfluencefUnitedStates.40 n theotherhand,therewas a strikinglyifferentttitude owards Red China. In a series fpublications he "glory" nd the "achievements" f Red China have beenpublicised.The differencesetween he twoNAP's were not,however, iscernibleduring hegreatmass-movementsaunchedfromDecember 968 toMarchi969 whicheventuallyed to the downfallof the Ayub regime.All theopposition arties chieved n understandingn orderto form he Demo-craticAction CommitteeDAC) early n January969 to launcha massagitation gainstPresidentAyub. The formation f the DAC was at oncefollowedby similar lliancesamongthe student arties.41 ll the studentparties lignedto theopposition ow joined togethero form heStudents'Action Committee SAC) and formulate ts eleven-point rogramme,

36 Ibida Ibid.38Mohammad Sultan, op. cit.39 Ibid.40East Pakistan Peasants Society: Ideology, Objectives and Constitution,Dacca, i967.41 In East Pakistan, every political party has its parallel students' organization. The left-wing East Pakistan Students' Union (EPSU) is aligned with the NAP. Following the riftin the NAP, the EPSU was also divided into Menon (pro-Chinese) and Motia (pro-Moscow)factions in i968. The Awami League is supported by the East Pakistan Students League(EPSL) and the Muslim League (Convention) was supported by National StudentsFederation (NSF) (Jamir group)401


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PacificAffgirswhich oon ame obe themainpoliticalheme fthe ountryndprovidedthebasis f political nity mong hevarious arties.42he salient eaturesofthe leven-pointrogrammencluded:

(i) Parliamentaryemocracy as to be basedon universaldultfran-chise, ull autonomyorEast Pakistan nd forthe former rovincesfWestPakistan,eavingwith heFederalGovernmentnly hree ubjects:defence,oreignolicyndcurrency.(2) East Pakistan houldbe given he power o form militia r aparamilitaryorce ndthenavalheadquartershould e transferredo thisprovince.(3) The federal overnmentouldhaveno power o levy axes ndeach ederatingtate ouldmaintaineparateccountsfforeignrade.(4) Economic emandsncorporatedn the programmenclude:na-tionalisationfbanking,nsurancendbig industries,reductionn theburdenftaxes nd evies n thefarmersndproper ages ndbonuses oworkers.In addition hereweredemands orthe repeal f all repressiveaws,end of theEmergencyeclared t thetime f theSeptember965 conflictwith ndia and still n force n early969, release f political etenus ndthe withdrawalf all political ases.Therewerealso special ducationaldemandsnthe hape fvarious inds ffacilitiesothe tudents.43notherdemandwas for non-alignedoreignolicy nd anendto the nvolvementwith he akistan-U.S.ilitaryact, EATO andCENTO.All thiswasmuchmore han students'ction rogramme.n fact,twasa minimumrogrammeounite he eftistsswell sthe ightistingsof oppositionn East Pakistan.An analysis f theprogrammelearlyindicateshat he educational emands onstitutednly fractionf it.

The main ssueswerepoliticalndeconomic.t combinedhebasic ssuesoftheAwami eague ix-pointrogrammeith heminimumemandsftheNAP.44n the gitationaunchedythe tudentsnDacca inJanuary,i969, thefirstmartyr"asAsaduzzaman, leftisttudenteader.45hisincidentparkedff chain eactionllover he ountrynd nthe nsuingagitationsndclashes ith he olicemore hanoopeoplewere illed ntheeastern ing lone.46 radually,he tudentsainedupportromhendus-42 PakistanObserver, anuary, i969.43 Ibid. Also Launch UnitedMovement n theBasis of zz-PointProgramme a pamphletin Bengali istributednJanuary969).44See also Sheikh MujiburRahman,Six-PointProgramme, ur Rightto Live, Dacca,2966; and Rashiduzzaman, The Awami League in thePoliticalDevelopment f Pakistan,"Asian Survey,July 970.45PakistanObserver, an. 0, i969. The studentwas a leaderof the eft-wing PSU.46Unofficialstimate iven by the newspapers. here were also several deaths n WestPakistan.

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The NationalAwamiParty fPakistan:Leftist olitics n Crisistrialworkers homarchednthousandsromhe uburbanndustrialreaatTongi ndNarayanganj.47hePresidentfthepro-ChineseAP,Man-lanaBhasani, lsoparticipatedn themovementctivelyormost fthetime,hought certainntervalse showed curious nwillingnesso re-mainnthe ompanyf hemasses ndwithdrewnto eclusion.48Pressuredy thismassive olitical pheaval, resident yubdecidedagainstontestinghenext residentiallectionndcalled RoundTableConferenceodiscusshepoliticaluturefthe ountry ith he eadersfvarious arties. ow that heobjectivefremovingyubwasnearingtsgoal, heNAP changedts trategy.aulanaBhasani enouncedheRoundTableConferencendendorsedhe politicsf the treet."49e declaredthat heRoundTableConferenceas "hopelesslynadequateopromotethe nterestsf theworkinglass ndthepeasantry,"50nd on this corerefusedo ointheConferencen spite fa great ealofpersuasionyboththeGovernmentndhisfellowoliticians.ventually,aulana hasanindZ. A. Bhuttowhohadresigneds ForeignMinisterfPakistann i966andformedhePakistan eoples' artywith socialistrogramme)eretheonly woprominenteaderswhoabsentedhemselvesromheRoundTable ConferencetRawalpindi nMarch 969.WhileMaulanaBhasaniwas refusingo join theRoundTable Con-ference,isfollowers ereusing hetactic f Gherao.5' he movementinitiallytartedythepro-ChineseAP in theformf theGherao fcor-rupt fficersndgovernmentgenciesegan ospreadn therural reas.52ByMarch969, heworkersook t nto heir eads orealiseheir emandsfromhe mployersycoercionnd ntimidation,heprocesstartingromtheTongi ndustrialrea.53The term herao adbeenmportedromWestBengalwhereworkerssedsimilarmethodsf forcend intimidationoredressheir emands.) he government,lreadyripplednder hepres-sure fmassmovements,as unable o dealwith hisnewform fcon-frontationetweenmployersndemployees.he situationeterioratedorapidlyhat astPakistan'susinessnd ndustry erevirtuallyaralysed.Thisdownhillrendwasfinallyhecked ythedeclarationfMartial awonMarch 5, i969.AfterresidentyubKhanhandedver ower othe rmyndGeneral

47The workers f Tongi Industrial rea are known to be under the influence f someofthe eaders f thepro-ChineseAP.48 BadruddinOmar, "The PoliticalCycleofMaulana Bhasani,"Holiday,January8, 1970.49 Ibid.50Ibid.51 Gherao iterallymeans encirclement,ut is used as a special termto mean the con-finement f Government fficials r managersto their offices,ometimeswithoutfood orwater,until they give in to workers'demands.52 KamruddinAhmed,LabourMovement n East Pakistan,Dacca, 1969, p. 96.53Ibid-,p. 97.

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Pacific fairsYahya declaredMartial Law on March 25, i969, thepoliticalpartieshadto function ndervariousrestrictionsntilJanuary, I970 when theywereallowed to operatefreely.As soon as he assumedpower,GeneralYahyadeclared hathe would transferowerto therepresentativeslectedbythepeople. To redeemhis pledge,he announcedon November28, i969,thatelectionswould be held in October 970 to form a National Assemblywhichwill be responsibleor raming heConstitution.o far, ll thepoliticalparties n Pakistan exceptthe pro-Chinese hasani-NAPhave welcomedGeneralYahya'sdecision o holdthe lections.The pro-MoscowNAP enthusiastically elcomedthe decisionto holdelections rom heirplatformsn both the wings of Pakistan.Their viewshad been fully rticulated n two brochures ublished n January970.54They have acceptedthe election s an important tep in the "struggles"for the estblishmentf a democratic ociety ree from xploitation y thefeudalists nd monopolists.55he chiefof the NAP (pro-Moscow),KhanAbdul Wali Khan, called upon the people to rise and boldlyparticipatentheforthcominglections.56e has said: "It would be thebiggestmisfortuneofthecountryf electionswerepostponed r delayed".57n another ublicmeetinghe gave a sternwarningto thosewho were out to disrupt heelections.58he pro-Moscow ast PakistanNAP ExecutiveCommitteelsocame out with similarwarning gainst hosewho wereopposed oelectionsand called upon all the otherdemocratic arties o unite with a commonprogramme.59Maulana Bhasani has never xpressed serious nterestn Parliamentarypolitics.His main orientation ad been towards gitation.n spiteof hispopularity ith he masses, eneverpursued legislative areer.As a result,a distaste ordemocratic oliticss discerniblen his beliefs nd actions.n-steadofwelcoming heelections, he Maulana demanded hatthere houldbe reservationf seatsfortheworkers nd peasants n thefutureNationalAssembly.60e deferred decision bout his participationn theelectionssaying hat his houldbe decidedby the NAP Council."' There is a lobbyinsidehis party, owever,which s inclined owards articipation;ts mem-bersarguethatthe NAP can make a useful ontributionnsidethe elected

54 ProfessorMuzaffarAhmed, Present ituation nd Our Duties, Dacca, 1970; and "APoliticalCommentator,"nsuing Elections nd Our Problematic ociety, acca, 1970.55 Ibid.5a Dawn, Februaryo, 1970.57 Ibid.58 Sangbad, February 0, I970 (Bengali daily published fromDacca which supportspro-Moscow nd leftist olitics n general).59Ibid.,February 6, 1970.60 Fazle Lohani, The Field of Mahipur (a Bengali brochureon Maulana Bhasani),Dacca, I970.61 Ibid.

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The NationalAwamiParty fPakistan:Leftist olitics n Crisisassemblyyventilatinghegrievancesfthepeople.02o meet he enti-ments fthis obby,heMaulanahas, o far, ccordednly conditionalrecognitiono theelections. ddressing tea-gardenorkers' allyatShamsernagar,ylhet,n February970 he put forward three-pointprogrammefconditionalupportor lectionsnthe ountry:a) provin-cial utonomynthe asis fthe ahoreResolutionf 940; (b) reservationofseats orpeasantsndworkersn forthcomingationalAssembly;c)recognitionfthebasic ightsfthepeasants nd workersytheGovern-ment.63 hese conditions re not likely o be fulfilled efore heelections.GeneralYahya categoricallyeclared hatthe questionof provincialautonomyhouldbe decided inally y themembersf theelected s-sembly.64t snot eallyeasibleoreserveeats or heworkersndpeasantsas other ccupationalroupswould lso raise imilar emands.t is alsoobvious hat real mprovementf theworkersndpeasants'iving ondi-tions annot e achieved ithinhe hort eriod vailable efore he lec-tions.WhileMaulanaBhasaniwasvacillatingbout he lections,ome f hisfollowersook moremilitantiew. arlyn January970, thepro-ChineseNAP unleashed campaigngainstheelections, ith he logan: FoodBefore ote.""5n their ropagandagainst heelections,hey avethefollowingeasons: irst, heelectionsnnouncedythemartial aw au-thorityere nly hoaxwhichwould ontributeothingothewelfarefthe ommonman;hence,hepeople hould e"freed" romhe llusionsfthe lectionsyanti-electionovements.econdly,lections ere ncapableofbringingn end toexploitationythe vested"nterests;nfact, arlia-mentaryemocracyasonly facade ehind hich llkinds fexploitationwillpersist.hirdly,hepeople ouldnolonger e contentedith lectionssince heywerenowready or herevolutionarylass-struggle.6ourthly,elections ndermilitaryulecould not be free nd unfetterednd theelectedegislatureouldnotbea sovereignody odecide he uturefthecountry.67The internecineuarrelnthepro-BhasaniastPakistan AP came othefore nd thebelligerentactionsnside hepartyesortedopress tate-

62 Ibid.63 MorningNews,February, I970.64 Text of GeneralYahya's addressto the Nation on March 28, 1970, in Pakistan

Observer, arch 9, 1970.65 The campaignwas mostly ed by the studentfrontof NAP (pro-Chinese)calledEPSU (Menon). Numeroushandbillswere also circulated. he followingwere the mainanti-electionlogans: i) we don'twantfakeelections: ii) we don'twantNationalAssemblyof the exploiters;iii) we wantPeople'sDemocracy, tc.66 Mahbubullah,n the Contextof JanuaryMovementsa Bengali pamphletpublishedby theEPSU (Menon),Dacca, 1970).67 Ibid.

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PacificAffairsments o "expose he true olour f their ivals."68t was reportedhatthere ere s many s four actionsn theparty nd themain uarrel rosebetweenwofactions-onepposing articipationn the election nd theother upportingarticipation.69he anti-electionobbywas spearheadedyMr.Mohammad oaha,General ecretaryftheEastPakistan AP, whohad dissociatedimselfromMaulanaBhasani's easants' ally t SantoshinJanuary970 whichwas reportedobe backedmainly y hepro-electionlobby f he arty.70nly few ays fterhis evelopment,r.ToahawenttoKarachindcategoricallynnouncedhat hemain bjectivefhispartywas to establishpeople's emocracy"nd thiscouldnotbe attainedyparliamentarylections hich etermeds "bourgeoisolitics."'"

Mr.Toaha was the eader fthehard orentheNAP and hisfollowersinside he partywere knownas the Toaha-Abdul uq faction Huqbeing nother rominentersonalityf this roupwhohas mainlyoncen-trated n peasantmovements).Thesehard-coreollowers ereno longerwillingoacceptMaulanaBhasani s the eader f the' revolutionaryeft,"a manwho, ccordingo them, ufferedrom incurableetit-bourgeois"contradictionsnd was steepedn communal eliefs.73hisstand yMr.Toahawas, however, eenly ontestedytheother ctivistroupsn theNAP-the Deben Sikdar-Matin-Alauddinnd Zafar-Menonactions-whoheld that he Maulanawas themostdependablelly for he eft.74hecriticsftheMaulana ointed ut hat e hadtaken big step ackwardnhis political areer y declaringhathe stood or Islamic ocialism."75ospeak orslamic ocialism asnothinghortfdefendingommunalismndtheexpulsionfthenon-Muslimsrom heNAP and the EastPakistanKrishak amity Peasants ociety).76ThepresentrisisntheNAP isnot nly he esult fthe ontradictionsof ts eader,MaulanaBhasani,lthoughe has ndeed reatedonfusionyhis attemptso mix ocialismnd slam. t is also a crisis f eftistoliticsin. eneral.he leftistsre tthe rossroadsfdecisions towhetherocial-ism can be achieved irectlyhroughrmed evolutionrbydemocraticmeans.The hard core of the Bhasani-NAP llegethatthemiddle-classleadershipfthepartys interferingith heproletarianevolution.77nfact,most f the eaders f theNAP belong o theeducatedmiddle lass.

68 PakistanObserver,anuary9, 1970.69 Ibid.To bid.71 Ibid.72 Sangbad, February 7, 1970.'73 Holiday,February, 1970.74 Ibid.75At the peasants'rallyheld at Santosh n January 970.76Holiday, January 8, 1970.77 Ibid., February 8, 1970.

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The National Awami Party f Pakistan:Leftist olitics n CrisisManyoffice-bearersnd membersf theWorking ommitteesf thetwoNAPs in East Pakistan re universityraduates.78venthe ultra-revolu-tionary"oaha and AbdulHuq, trade nionistnd peasant eader espec-tively,re universityraduates. he peasanteaders f theBhasani-NAPare also mainly ased n urban reas ndare n no sense illers f the oil.Maulana Bhasani gave a sternwarning o Toaha and other ultra-revolutionaries"howere ut to "destroyheNAP and theEastPakistanPeasants'Society"with their logans for revolution.79e also allegedthatthe real reasonfor dissension nside the partywas the influence f Hinduleftisteaders who wanted to destroy he NAP in collusion with theirMuslimfollowers.80

What is thefuture f the NAP? Whether he pro-BhasaniNAP takespart n theelections r not, hefissuresnside heparty annotbe repaired.8'There is no doubt that the role of Maulana Bhasani as the leader of theleftistmovement as been seriously hallenged y forceswho want todiverttheirmovement romreform o radicalism nd militancy.82hey believethat ocialism an only be achievedby an armedrevolution f thepeople.Yet the Maulana himselfhas made it clear more than once that thenew "ultra-revolutionary"orces hould ploughtheir wn furrow.Amongthethreemain factions f his NAP, the Zafar-Menonnd Matin-Alauddingroups re likely o stick o Bhasani becauseof his mass following; n theotherhand, the Toaha-Abdul Huq faction ppears o have abandonedhimonce and for all.83There is also another ectionpopularlyknown as the"Mao Thought Group" led by Siraj Sikder (predominantly ased on thedistrict f Faridpur n East Pakistan) whichhas also lost faith on theMaulana.78 In the executivebody of the pro-MoscowEast PakistanNAP, there are about 20

university raduateswho are predominantlyawyers,businessmen nd journalists nd inthe executive odyof the pro-Chinese AP in East Pakistan here re about 25 universitygraduates who represent similar occupationalbackground.This information as col-lected by some students f the Departmentf PoliticalScience,Dacca Universityn January1970.

79 DainikPakistan,March 2, 1970.80 Ibid.81The Working Committee f the Bhasani-NAPrejectedthe Legal FrameworkOrderannouncedby General MohammadYahya Khan on March30, 1970 which would governthe conduct f ensuingelections nd working f the futureNational Assembly n framinga constitutionor the country.Althoughthe WorkingCommitteehas not categoricallyrejected he elections, t has called upon the people to launch a country-wide ovementto redress heirgrievances. ee also Sangbad, April 13, 1970, and Pakistan Observer, prilI3, 1970.82 The impressions gatheredfrom interviewswith several leftist eaders as well astheirpublicationsuch as Holiday (weekly), Gana Sakti (weekly),and numerous oliticalpamphlets.

83 It is interestingo note that, following he divisions n the Bhasani-NAP, he pro-Chinese Students artyEPSU (Menon) also split nto threefactions n April-May, 970.407


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The National Awami Party f Pakistan:Leftist olitics n Crisistwo eaders, ave become o prominentow thatpolitical bserverseel,a final reak-ups mminent."here s a definiteossibilityf n alignmentbetween hepro-Moscow AP and theAwamiLeague n East Pakistan.Butsuch n alliancemaynotbe consideredesirableor heNAP in WestPakistan here heAwami eaguehas sofar ailed omake ny atisfactoryprogressY22ow thepro-Moscowast Pakistan AP is also facedwithdilemma:n its own t cannot xpect ny ignificantuccessn thefutureelections or can it enter nto n alliancewithout isking final upturebetween he two wings f theparty. o far, he AwamiLeague has notseriouslyespondedo Professor uzaffarhmed's rge or lliance. venif an alliance s forged, he right-wingwami League, which s pre-dominantlyupported y East Pakistani usinessmennd professionals,will ompelMuzaffar'sAP toreducetsdemandsor socialistrder.UniversityfDacca,May 970Postscript (August 1, I970)THE GENERAL SECRETARY of the East PakistanNAP, Mr. MohammadToaha, announcedhisresignation rom he party n May 31, 1970, stating hathis differenceiththeparty hiefwas not personalbut ideological.He said thatthe objective f the NAP was to establishsociety reefrom xploitation hrough he mechanism f "Scientificocialism"but thattheMaulanahad started reaching IslamicSocialism"without onsultingisorganization.Withina fewdaysMr. Abdul Haque, GeneralSecretaryf theEast PakistanPeasants'Society, lsoresigned romhis post, asserting hathe believed n Marxist-Leninist-Maoisthoughtnd thatthe Societywas incapable fbringingsalvation" o thefarmers.n June 7 the Bhasani-NAPdecidedto contest he forthcomingeneralelection now postponed ntil December 970).In a resolution dopted t the three-houression f theCouncil, heWorking ommittee asempowered o decide the exactnature nd extent f NAP's participationn the election. talso set up an eight-memberarliamentaryoardto nominate andidates.Maulana Bhasani,however, emainedbsent rom heCouncil ession.On August , an emergencyouncilmeet-ing of the East PakistanNAP (Bhasani Group) approvedparticipationn the elections ro-vided that the Legal FrameworkOrderwas amended.Mr. MashiurRahman was electedGeneralSecretaryf theparty.The Councilmeeting lso calledupontheparty nits ll overthe country o organise mass-movementemanding elease of all politicalprisoners, ndaction owards solution f East Pakistan's lood roblems.challengedthese provisions f LFO which, accordingto them, amount to negation ofdemocratic rinciples.91 The EveningPost,May 2, 1970.92 See also Rashiduzzaman,"The Awami League in the Political Development ofPakistan," p. cit.

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the national awami party of pakistan leftist politics in crisis

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