Socialist and union organizer targetted by feudal lords and corrupt state officials
Comrade Hameed Chanah, provincial organiser of the Progressive Workers Federation of Pakistan, in the Sindh province, is under attack and facing severe hardship. His only crime is that he dared to organise resistance and challenged the domination and hegemony of the local feudal lords and corrupt state officials. He has been targeted by criminals, judges and the police because he is playing a leading role organizing workers, peasants and females in his area – Mir Pur Khas – in Sindh province.
All this started when his house was robbed last month by a criminal gang. The robbers entered his house late at night when the whole family was sleeping on the roof top because of oppressive heat. The thieves took away everything including a laptop, camera, cash, gold ornaments and even clothes. The family was left literally with nothing. They traced the robbers with the help of sniffer dogs. When the police went to arrest the thieves, they physically attacked Hameed Chanah in the presence of the police and injured him. The police finally arrested the robbers and sent them to prison. But the police failed to recover the looted goods.
The Socialist Movement Pakistan (SMP) and Progressive Workers Federation of Pakistan (PWF) organised protest demonstrations in more than eight cities in the Sindh province and got tremendous coverage in the media. These protest demonstrations put pressure on the police and local judiciary to take action. One of the robbers is a local office-bearer and activist for a religious organisation called Sunni Tehrik (ST). The local leaders of this religious organisation met Hameed Chanah and tried to persuade him to drop charges against their member. Another of the accused, who had assaulted Hameed Chanah, is a police constable and working as a bodyguard for a local judge. Now all these accused have been released on bail and are roaming around freely.
Working masses cannot get justice from corrupt, repressive and unjust system
Later, the mother of the main accused approached the senior local judge to register a criminal case against Hammed Chanah and the police officials. She has alleged that Hameed Chanah and five policemen entered her house and took away cash and gold jewelry worth thousands of rupees. The judge ordered the police to register a criminal case against Hameed Chanah and five policemen. The police have registered the case and now Hameed Chanah has been forced to get bail from the court to avoid possible arrest. The investigation officer is now asking for money to clear Hameed Chanah of this false charge.
Hameed Chanah lost everything in the robbery and now he is faced with possible arrest because he tried to get justice for himself from a unjust and rotten system. This is just one case out of the thousands that occurred every day in Pakistan, where the working masses cannot get justice from an utterly corrupt, repressive and unjust system. Being poor is a crime in this rotten capitalist and feudal system. Every effort to demoralize the SMP and Progressive Workers Federation of Pakistan and to destroy the tremendous work done by the comrades in the Sind has failed. Comrades have been able to keep the red flag flying high.
It seems that the criminal gang has the support and blessing of the influential local feudal lords and corrupt bureaucrats. They are ganging up to silence the loud voice of the working masses in this whole area.
Send solidarity donations to: Trade Union Rights Campaign Pakistan (TURCP)
TURCP PO Box 57449 London E5 5AE. Cheques made payable to: TURCP
Send solidarity donations to: Trade Union Rights Campaign Pakistan (TURCP)
TURCP PO Box 57449 London E5 5AE. Cheques made payable to: TURCP
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