Rahguzar Tau Dekho: Aman, Samaji Insaaf Aur Jamhooriat Ke Liay Mehnatkashon Ki Lazawaal Jiddojehad — Tajrubaat aur Mushahidaat
By Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmed
Institute of Historical and Social
Research, Karachi
ISBN: 978-9697985005
252pp.

In 2012, the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER), Karachi, had completed 30 years of existence and the occasion was celebrated to acknowledge its remarkable achievements in the realm of labour research and education. Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmed was on PILER’s board of directors and, on the occasion, was requested to compile the institution’s history.

This was how Rahguzar Tau Dekho: Aman, Samaji Insaaf Aur Jamhooriat Ke Liay Mehnatkashon Ki Lazawaal Jiddojehad — Tajrubaat Aur Mushahidaat [Just Look at the Pathway: Workers’ Remarkable Struggle for Peace, Social Justice and Democracy — Experiences and Observations] materialised.

In order to write about the formation and evolution of PILER, it was inevitable to interview Karamat Ali, the founder and director of the institution. The interview ran over a period of many days, and the author realised that, more than PILER’s history, it was a tale of Ali’s own political life and his activities relating to the labour force. It took the author six to seven years to complete the book, the whole of which comprises Ali’s interviews.

Although Dr Ahmed does not consider the book to be Ali’s official biography, it certainly encompasses the significant activities of the activist’s life. As facts related to political events and trade union activities are highly sensitive, the author is careful not to shuffle the words as stated by Ali.

Besides being a prominent trade unionist and rights activist, Ali has also remained involved in Pakistan’s politics over the last 60 years. He has played an active role for political parties and labour movements representing the leftist ideology and has been quite candid in narrating his experiences, observations and views. Thus, while highlighting the glittering aspects of leftist politics, Ali does not try to hide its weaknesses and contradictions.

A book traces the history of Pakistan’s leftist labour movement through the life and politics of activist Karamat Ali

Ali has long been an interested reader of the booklets authored by Mao Tse-tung and, at the same time, is not averse to Karl Marx’s communist philosophy and quotes Vladimir Lenin and particularly Leon Trotsky — a vital leading figure in Red victory in the Russian civil war — many times.

Ali had his schooling from Karachi and Multan respectively, as his parents had settled in the latter city, and his first exposure to politics happened in 1962, when he was an Intermediate student at Government Emerson College, Multan.

Gen Ayub Khan’s government had imposed a ban on student unions, which was lifted in 1962. A group of 12 agitating students from the National Students Federation (NSF) were expelled from Karachi and, when the city administration of Sukkur and Bahawalpur did not accommodate them, they sought refuge in Multan. The students from Karachi wanted the students of Emerson College to protest in their support, that they should be allowed to stay in Multan. These students included Mairaj Muhammad Khan and a firebrand orator by the name of Syed Ali Mukhtar Rizvi.

Ali and a few others took all the students of their college in a huge procession to the commissioner of Multan’s office and organised a sit-in there. The commissioner came out and, after listening to them, allowed the Karachi students to stay in Multan. This first taste of success achieved through agitation developed Ali’s confidence and groomed him to face the much bigger challenges that would come in the future.

After 1962, the student unions played a key role in protesting against dictatorship and in support of democracy. The Karachi-based NSF had spearheaded this struggle. The year 1963 was important as the leftist unions and federations had reached their zenith and were leading the industrial workers, especially in the bigger cities of Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi. However, the unions and federations became ineffective and the NSF dissipated because of the strong rightist movement of the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) in 1977.

Ali had joined the Muttahida Mazdoor Federation, which was constituted in 1969 by Usman Baloch and Shah Raza Khan. They managed to mobilise and unite the workers of textile mills who were being deprived of proper wages and benefits by their employers.

When Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s labour policy came into effect in February 1972, it was vociferously opposed by the labour federations because of the induction of shop stewards in the factories. The federations thought their factory unions would become weak, as the shop stewards would dominate them. In retrospect, Ali regrets the criticism of the policy by the federations’ leadership.

Nabi Ahmad was a popular labour leader and was heading the United Workers Federation successfully. He fully supported and took part in the ventures and initiatives undertaken by Ali, including the formation of PILER. There was so much cohesion between Ali and Nabi Ahmad that the Muttahida Mazdoor Federation later merged with the United Workers Federation.

At the time of the division of the Subcontinent, there were unions only in the railways and ports — both of which were in the public sector. Looking at the history of workers’ struggle for the attainment of their rights in Pakistan, the first major industrial strike took place in March 1963. The strike led to the closure of almost all the factories in SITE, Karachi, and continued for many days. Later, industries in Landhi and Korangi were also shut down in support.

The striking workers managed to achieve success when the government agreed to provide legal cover to their key demands. As a consequence, two labour welfare laws were promulgated, which extended a medical scheme to workers and the families (in 1965) and brought improvement in the terms of their employment (in 1968).

In the middle of 1972, the labour federations of SITE, inclusive of Ali’s federation, were involved in quite violent agitations against mill owners who had defaulted in paying wages to the workers and reportedly carried out unfair dismissals from service. In furtherance of these protests, the Sindh Assembly was also invaded by around 2,000 workers. During the unruly incidents, some of the mill owners were publicly humiliated and 10 workers lost their lives as a result of police gunfire.

It is ironic that the most tumultuous and violent protests in the country’s history of industrial relations took place following the implementation of Bhutto’s labour policy, which had been appreciated by the press in general.

Ali has travelled extensively around the world and also lived in England and Holland for some years. He picked up many bright ideas through his interaction with the union leaders, rights’ activists and educationists in Europe and the United States. A visit to the Institute of Labour Education and Research (ILER) in New York inspired him to set up PILER.

In politics, Ali was greatly influenced by Maulana Abdul Hamid Bhashani and Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo and remained closely associated with the latter. He lived with the artist Sadequain for around two years and learned the art of calligraphy from him and, having met Faiz Ahmed Faiz a few times, found the poet to be an impressive person.

Besides many other reputed people, Ali had strong interactions with Justice Dorab Patel, Dr Zaki Hasan, Mohammad Baqir Naqvi, Omar Asghar Khan, Indian social activist Nirmala Deshpande, Biyyathil Mohyuddin Kutty, Professor Karrar Hussain and Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan, father of the Orangi Pilot Project.

The struggle of workers in Karachi for getting their rights has been comprehensively covered in the book. However, there is no mention of the powerful labour movements of the early 1970s in Lahore, especially in the industrial areas of Kot Lakhpat and Kala Shah Kaku.

Similarly, there is silence about the glorious achievements of the rightist National Labour Federation (NLF), which had its collective bargaining agent unions in numerous large organisations all over the country. These included Pakistan Railways, Pakistan International Airlines, the Karachi Port Trust, the Karachi Development Authority, Pakistan Steel Mills, Siemens, the Water and Power Development Authority and Pakistan Engineering Company, etc.

Nevertheless, Dr Ahmed has made a remarkable effort to enlighten readers about a man who has devoted his entire life to fighting for the cause of marginalised people and those deprived of their lawful rights, through political means and by effectively orchestrating and leading labour movements.

The reviewer is an industrial relations professional and teaches at the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, December 6th, 2020