Pakistani workers express solidarity

Issue 

The following is abridged from a statement, in solidarity with the striking electricity workers of Uttar Pradesh, India, issued by the Labour Party Pakistan (LPP) on January 25.

The Labour Party Pakistan expresses its deepest solidarity with the striking power workers in India. The strike is now entering its 10th day and has been solid in Uttar Pradesh. All the major federations of the workers in India have supported it.

This strike is a historic step forward as far as the class struggle in the Indian subcontinent is concerned. It is a political strike in its nature and is not restricted to economic demands.

The BJP government has tried to implement the agenda of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, despite its demagogy against these financial institutions. The BJP government was testing the waters in Uttar Pradesh for its massive and rapid privatisation plans across the country. This strike puts the BJP on notice that the working class is fed up with the free-market agenda.

To avoid the class struggle at home, the BJP government has now started border skirmishes with Pakistan. It is a clever move by the regime to divert the attention of the masses from the real economic plans of this anti-worker government.

Labour Party Pakistan condemns the arrests of thousands of striking workers and other repressive measures. It salutes the historic and tireless struggle of the Indian workers against the onslaught of world capitalism through its agents in India. Indian workers have taken a lead in the class struggle within the Asian region.

We would like to warn the Pakistani military regime that it should immediately abandon its program of rapid privatisation in Pakistan. Otherwise, the Pakistani industrial proletariat will not be far behind its Indian brothers and sisters in raising its voice against privatisation.

Privatisation is an international ploy by the IMF and World Bank to capture the national assets and resources of colonial countries. In Pakistan, the "independent" power companies have imposed a massive price hike.

The LPP demands the nationalisation of these power companies' plants. It demands new investments in the public sector by the government to make it modern and efficient. It demands the immediate withdrawal of all the proposals for the rapid privatisation of the railways, telecommunications, the irrigation system, financial institutions and other public sector institutions.

Privatisation has been proved a complete disaster for the economy of Third World countries. It has neither improved the condition of the economy nor the living standards of the masses. It is used only to sell the family silver at throw-away prices.

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