Saad
Joint study circle (The national question in Pakistan- how to build a left politics in both centre and periphery) by AWP and PrSF was organized to discuss the national question and the role of Pakistani left in this regard. People having progressive mindset about the society and world despite the nature of their organizations attended the event. The main speaker of the event Bakhshal Thalho thoroughly discussed the concept and need of national question and in question answer session, further elaborated the confusion of the attendees.
Bakhshal Thalho explained the difference between nationalism and national question because in Pakistan most of the people merge both ideas that, in reality, have different nature. The national question has lasted for centuries that there must be a nation with a national language or homeland for we can’t survive without the society and to organize a society we need a system and for that system raises the national question. Nowadays the ruling parties are following the colonial tool of crushing the different fragments of the society so that they don’t get united and not rebel against the injustice and oppression.
We’re using the technique of British Raj when we write in our constitution that whoever calls himself Baloch, Sindhi or Saraiki instead of Pakistani is a traitor. People that struggle and suffer for the working class are labeled traitors while on the other hand people that are busy doing typically traditional politics are patriots.
Due to conscious raising and inadequate environment for survival (economical) even the sepoys and constables are leaning towards the left for how long someone with low wages in this current economic condition going to stand with you. To fool the nation you’ll participate in every proxy war, you’ll genocide the Balochs for demanding their basic rights and still want people to stay right wing nationalists.
In question answer session someone asked does the government knows that such things are lethal to the society and if does then why not solve it, in response to this Bakhshal Thalho said that they don’t see any personal benefit in such solution. They live and die in foreign countries so how can one expect them to solve the issues that make the working class and other citizens suffer, it is the citizens only who can solve their issues by becoming aware of the structural issues, by being political and being organized, it is not a problem of one person but of all the people. Another attendee raised a point that isn’t radical nationalism good for decolonization of the region and minds meanwhile postponed the actual national question, to this Bakhshal Thalho said it’s the ongoing today’s crisis we can’t postponed it, without it we can’t even make a society and a system. The lack of consciousness on this topic is the reason that we see a big gap amongst different organizations and parties that are actually fighting for the same cause.
