Solidarity expressed with Egyptian people

Scores of students and left-wing political workers gathered in the bustling G-9 Markaz to pay tribute Egyptian people.

In a bid to pay tribute to the Egyptian people’s revolt against dictatorship, scores of students and left-wing political workers gathered in the bustling G-9 Markaz on Sunday.

A press release issued by National Students Federation (NSF) said that the rally was a tribute to the movement that had resulted in the removal of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and stressed the need for substantive political, economic and social reforms in Egypt.

Responding to a call given by the federation to mark the Global Day of Action for Egypt, the protestors made rounds of the busy marketplace waving red flags and chanting slogans celebrating the victory of the Egyptian people over
their rulers.

In their slogans, the protestors denounced the unconstitutional handover of power to the Egyptian military and demanded a peaceful and democratic transition in Egypt, free from the pressure and influence of the Egyptian military and imperialist forces.

Speaking on the occasion, NSF leader Nazish Zahoor drew parallels between the situation in Egypt and that prevailing in Pakistan by emphasising the common problems of unemployment, inflation, corrupt governments, an over-grown military and the kowtowing of these countries’ rulers to imperialist powers.

He reminded the audience that despite the anti-dictatorship movement against Pervez Musharraf, the problems faced by the common man were not resolved. He insisted that substantive structural reforms in the political and economic domains were necessary and called for a movement to free people from the clutches of international financial capital.

Another student leader Alia Amir Ali said the resignation of Mubarak was a joyous occasion not just for the Egyptian people but for people all over the world who are becoming increasingly frustrated with the social, political and economic oppression inflicted on them by their rulers.

Ali emphasised that the resignation was only the first step in the right direction and that the Egyptian people along with the left-wing and secular nationalist forces will have to make a united front to prevent their military from trying to re-establish the status quo and “ensure that the US is not allowed to install its own puppets in the name of a ‘democratic’ transition”.

She said that the continued presence of protestors at Tahrir Square showed that people want more than a mere change of face and that constitutional, political and economic change are at the heart of their movement.

Political workers of other left-wing political parties such Workers Party Pakistan, Labour Party Pakistan and Awami Party Pakistan also participated in the rally.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2011.