People’s Resistances: Pathway to a Bright Future!
Press Release | May 1, 2024
Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek in solidarity with industrial workers commemorated May Day 2024, at the Hattar Industrial Estate, Haripur at a time, when the state of the working class, the peasantry, women and children showcases starkly the brutal force of imperialist economic policies and militarism.
The series of International Monetary Fund (IMF) standby agreements in the past few years has resulted in massive inflation, which from 2022 to 2023 skyrocketed from 12.2 to 28.2, respectively. The impact of rising prices of food, transport, education, health, and water utility bills can be seen in the escalating poverty rates in these years from 34.2% to 39.4%. The IMF conditionalities have increased electricity and gas rates to an extent that many industries are now unable to function. Corporations and industrialists are taking advantage of these conditions and have sacked thousands of workers, while those who still remain employed face exploitation with their labor rights severely truncated or non-existent. Workers are forced to work long hours, with a minimum of 12 hours, with no increments or increased wages. It is also important to highlight the conditions of women workers, who are about 70% of the informal economy and cannot claim any of their rights as workers. With the astronomical rise in the price of wheat flour and all basic food items, women face multiple levels of oppression, on one hand, the exploitative conditions at work, while at home have to provide the heavy burden of care work which has increased manyfold as many of the social services available have been drastically reduced.
In the era of imperialism, as there is escalation of wars of aggression for marking territorial claims, the true face of imperialism, its fascist nature, and draconian lust for death and destruction is tragically visible in the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the Occupied Palestinian territories. As the warmongering continues to rise, the US has once again shown its fascist tendencies by standing firm with an apartheid regime like ‘Israel,’ and expanding its military strength, especially in the Asia Pacific. In many parts of the world, there are struggles for national liberation and genuine democracy including Myanmar, Indian Occupied Kashmir, Philippines; fascist regimes will do their utmost to stifle dissent, as can be seen in the terrible response of the militarized forces in the US against students standing up against the Palestinian genocide.
As imperialism tries to increase its control over resources and markets, there is no doubt that in the coming years, the exploitation of workers and peasants is going to intensify further and will face the force of imperialist attack. The only way forward for us is to organize ourselves, to face the attack against our livelihoods, our land and life.
Release by Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT)