Offices of Pakistan Labour Party Raided by Troops of the new Military Regimearticle from Green Left Weekly 382 |
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LPP newspaper office raided by military
By Farooq Sulehria
LAHORE -- The Pakistan military raided the offices of the weekly Mazdoor
Jeddojuhd on October 21. A truck loaded with soldiers came to the office
of the Pakistan Trade Unions Resource Centre at 5.30pm. They asked the
printing workers if the weekly paper of the Labour Party Pakistan was
printed there and who owned it. They took some copies of the paper.
The soldiers also seized copies of a new book, Prepare For Fight,
written by Amjad Ayub, LPP overseas organiser. LPP chairperson Shoaib
Bhatti approached the officer in charge and asked why they had come.
Bhatti informed the officer that he is the editor of Mazdoor Jeddojuhd
and when asked why he was writing against the military, told him that it
is the LPP's point of view. The military squad then left without taking
action.
LPP general secretary Farooq Tariq and Bhatti issued a joint press
statement condemning the raid as harassment and an attack on the freedom
of the press. They said it violated the promise made by coup leader
General Pervaiz Musharraf that freedom of the press would be respected.
Tariq and Bhatti declared it was their democratic right to oppose the
military regime.
The October 19 issue of Mazdoor Jeddojuhd demanded an end to military
rule and appealed to the working masses to fight against the military
dictatorship. It contained detailed articles on the situation and the
LPP's point of view. The LPP is the only political party which has not
welcomed the military takeover.
The LPP leaders appealed to the international workers' movement and
supporters of human rights and democracy to protest against this attack.
The International Socialist calls on all readers to protest to the Pakistani embassy. Please pass resolutions in SSP and trades-union branches. Copies and messages of support should be sent to us here and to the Labour Party Pakistan: [email protected]