Distorted narrative: Leftists question Qadri, Imran’s brand of ‘revolution’

Claim both leaders, who enjoy support of feudal and capitalists, do not know their history.

ISLAMABAD: Socialists and left wing parties and activists have taken exception to Dr Tahirul Qadri claim, in an August 18 speech, of being superior to Karl Marx, Lenin and Stalin, and termed his Inqilab March an attempt to hoodwink people in the name of  a revolution.

They say leaders like Marx and Lenin had a programme, party and roots in the working people and masses and completely changed the system while Qadri is a clergyman and wants a change of face not system.



They were of the view that participants of the sit-in are followers of Qadri while Imran Khan was a celebrity-cum-politician whose followers comprise of the elite class and his fans, not political workers.

On Sunday, while delivering his daily speech, Qadri said he will bring a ‘Russian [socialist]revolution’ in Pakistan.

Qadri’s revolution may be the first of its kind that is led by a religious scholar by giving a religious colour to a political struggle, they claimed.

“Religion had nothing to with the French, Russian and Chinese revolutions. They were for the rights of peasants and downtrodden segments of society that were joined by hundreds of thousands of people,” said Noorul Islam, a leftist youth activist.

He said the ongoing sit-ins are only limited to Islamabad and there is relative peace across the country as people have largely ignored Imran and Qadri’s call for ‘revolution’.

“Qadri copied his 10-point agenda from Marx’s famous 10-points, so how can he claim to be a bigger leader than him,” he said.

Fanoos Gujjar, leader of Awami Workers Party (AWP), said revolutions have their own features, ways and reasons.

“What is going at Constitution Avenue in Islamabad is not a revolution. How can they even think about distribution of land when some of the biggest feudal lords are standing on stage behind the so called ‘revolutionaries’,” he said.

Gujjar pointed out that there were more women than men at the Pakistan Awami Tehreek camp. “Can Qadri dare announce that women would have equal share in property distribution or equal status of testimony?”

He claimed that AWP has been pursuing a land reforms case in the Supreme Court which is being challenged by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) along with the Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, so what kind of revolution are they talking about.  “The registration of the FIR against the Model Town killings and electoral reforms are the basic agenda of these Azadi and Inqilab marches,” he said

Dr Tamim Rahman, a leader of the Communist Mazdoor Kisan Party, was of the view that the PAT and PTI sit-ins are ridiculing true revolutions.

“There are landlords, investors and capitalists in both camps and they would never raise their voice against a system which they are part of,” said Rahman.

Sartaj Khan, the editor of a socialist magazine, was of the view that both sit-ins have badly failed to attract public attention. The revolutionaries in Red Zone are not talking about land reforms and don’t even know how they would implement their 10-point agenda, he said.

“What kind of a revolution are they talking about. The participants are being given food and money to join the sit-ins. In a true revolution people join in bulk voluntarily who struggle for a change in the system,” Khan said.

He added that one leader is demanding the registration of an FIR and resignation of government figures while the other just wants electoral reforms to benefit a handful of people, mostly from the elite segment of society.

Leftists always demand a complete change in the social structure that guarantees equal rights to every citizen in society, claimed Khan.

Talking about the Bolshevik Revolution, Jamil Marghuz, a communist, said Lenin had a party of peasants and enjoyed support of every segment of society and was thus able to change the system completely. “He snatched power from the Czars and feudals and distributed the wealth among peasants equally. Will Qadri be able to do so?” he asked.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2014.