Pakistan: first Congress of the Inqalabi Communist Party – preparing to fight imperialism

4-5 April marked the first Congress of the Inqalabi Communist Party, the Pakistani section of the Revolutionary Communist International. The Congress met under intense objective difficulties: inflation and skyrocketing fuel prices are shaking the country, and organising a central event of this size is therefore incredibly difficult. On top of this, police repression has sharply increased against the masses who are suffering under these conditions.

Despite these barriers, 225 delegates, party members, and guests travelled to Lahore to participate in this historic event. The mood of the Congress was defiant. All the participants were determined to build the forces of revolutionary communism in Pakistan.

Under the shadow of the Iran War

Pakistan is undergoing its deepest crisis in recent memory, which has been ongoing for decades, but has been sharply accelerated by the energy shortages caused by the United States’ imperialist war against Iran. On Friday, 3 April – the day before the Congress began – the Pakistani government raised the price of petrol and diesel by 42.7 percent and 54.9 percent respectively. That brings the total increase in the prices of these necessary fuels to over 70 percent in just one month.

As a result, comrades who attended the Congress from distant regions woke up on Friday morning to the realisation that their Congress travel budget was no longer sufficient, and that they could no longer afford their return trip. Many comrades made the journey regardless, determined to smash any obstacles to building the revolutionary party.

The Congress welcomed participants from across the country, from the port city of Gwadar in the south – which is near the border with Iran – to Kashmir in the north. Many student leaders and activists involved in various mass struggles were also present at the Congress, including Rana Saleem from South Punjab, a leading figure in a movement of around two million peasants against eviction and corporate farming.

Aside from the price hike, the Congress was organised in an atmosphere of unprecedented uncertainty. The war in Iran has turned the whole situation upside down, and no one knows clearly what events will unfold in the coming days and weeks.

For now, the ruling class of Pakistan is rejoicing at the temporary ceasefire between Iran and US imperialism, in which they were able to position themselves as the mediator. They were able to restrain themselves from getting dragged into the war and have gained authority on the world stage.

But they are walking on a tightrope. The economic crisis, exacerbated by the war, has brought the whole country to the verge of bankruptcy. The lives of millions of people have become a living hell due to skyrocketing fuel prices and resulting inflation. There is also a huge ferment in society against the crimes of US imperialism in Iran and Palestine, for which the Pakistani ruling class has always been a lackey. The Pakistani state’s attempts to avoid entering the war were mainly due to this fear of the masses. The situation could have erupted in support of Iran had Pakistan tried to enter on the side of the US and Israel.

Whatever the fate of this ceasefire, the whole situation is bringing all the contradictions of Pakistani capitalism to the surface. Things are reaching a critical point and threaten to erupt in a revolutionary situation. Times of intense class struggle don’t seem far off. Therefore, the first Congress of the RCP in Pakistan was a very important milestone in preparing for these impending historic events.

The ruling class of Pakistan is extremely terrified, and is planning to brutally crush any movement that may erupt in these circumstances. That is why they have been cracking down on democratic rights on a scale that had not been seen before the war. Holding even a small meeting of political activists is seen with suspicion, and every effort is made by the Pakistani state to curb this. Furthermore, universities, schools, and colleges have been closed, and other restrictions have been put in place, in order to save fuel.

These factors made the organisation of this Congress extremely difficult. Alongside this, at the time of the Congress, one leading member of the party was already in prison while two others were in hiding due to the police crackdown in Gilgit-Baltistan. But this made the Congress all the more important, in order for us to discuss and analyse this situation, to build the perspectives for the upcoming revolutionary events, and prepare the party to intervene in such events.

Despite all the odds, this was successfully carried out. The whole party emerged strengthened from the Congress, and the morale of each comrade is currently very high.

Revolutionary internationalism

The Kashmiri delegation, which numbered over 70, also included a number of guests; non-members of the RCI who were invited to participate in the Congress to hear the revolutionary perspectives of our International. These comrades have been involved in the recent mass movement in Kashmir led by the Awami Action Committee (AAC) to fight against the corruption, oppression, and plunder perpetrated by the Pakistani state.

The comrades of the Inqalabi Communist Party have participated enthusiastically in this movement, advocating for the need for a revolutionary communist party to link the struggle of the people in Kashmir to a wider struggle of the working class in the region. This movement is now preparing for another march on 9 June for their demands, and the RCP will participate in these events with its own revolutionary programme.

International delegates from Britain, Denmark, and Canada also attended the Congress to learn from the comrades in Pakistan, and to share their experience of building the RCI in western imperialist countries. The participation of these international delegates was a big surprise for everyone, as the ongoing war has disrupted thousands of flights, and most westerners are leaving this region in huge numbers. But it was the revolutionary spirit of solidarity and determination which led these comrades to travel to the Congress, despite disruptions and rising fuel costs. All the participants of the Congress gave thunderous applause to these delegates when they were invited on to the stage.

The Congress opened with inspirational greetings sent by comrade Ehsan Ali Advocate, the leader of the Inqalabi Communist Party in Gilgit-Baltistan who was arrested for leading the masses of the region against the Pakistani state’s exploitation of the area’s rich resources. Ehsan Ali and the other arrested leaders of the Awami Action Committee are facing trumped-up charges of terrorism, and are being subject to a brutal and undemocratic treatment at the hands of the Pakistani state.

Comrades across the Revolutionary Communist International have rallied at Pakistani embassies and consulates around the world to demand the release of our imprisoned comrades, as part of an international campaign of solidarity which will not stop until the comrades are free. The international day of action on 2 April, just two days before the Congress, raised the morale of all comrades in Pakistan and strengthened their resolve to attend this important event.

Imperialist scramble

The first session of the Congress centred around recent developments in the world situation, introduced by Rob Sewell from the International Secretariat of the RCI. Rob outlined the decline of US imperialism expressed in Trump’s disastrous war in Iran. Lenin explained in Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism that war is an inevitable product of the capitalist system, in which capitalist countries – unable to make profits from investing in production at home – strive to carve up the world and subjugate poor countries for the benefit of their capitalists.

Today, the United States finds its dominance challenged by new, rising imperialist powers, most of all China. Proxy wars of all types are being caused by the scramble to control markets and influence. Under pressure from the larger imperialist powers, countries around the world have committed billions of dollars to re-militarisation, for which the working class and poor are being forced to pay through cuts to public services and their living conditions.

Due to the desperate situation that millions face due to the crisis of world capitalism, we are seeing a rapid increase in eruptions of the class struggle – from the Gen-Z revolutions in countries such as Kenya, Nepal, and Indonesia, to the general strike in Italy in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Movements like this have the potential to overthrow the capitalist system. However, history teaches us that for a revolution to be successful, a revolutionary leadership must be prepared beforehand. Rob concluded the session by underlining that there is no time to waste in building the Revolutionary Communist International.

The second session of the day discussed perspectives for Pakistan, introduced by comrade Paras Jan from the Central Secretariat of the Inqalabi Communist Party. Rising inflation and unemployment have made life a living hell for the masses of Pakistan, especially the youth, who have no future under the current system. More than a million young people leave the country every year to find work, emigrating particularly to countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, and Oman). Remittances from these workers, who now number more than eight million, make up a significant portion of Pakistani GDP. But with war in the Middle East, many of these workers are being turned away or extradited back to Pakistan, furthering the economic deterioration.

None of the capitalist parties in Pakistan has a solution to this crisis. Therefore, the ruling class has resorted to naked state violence to suppress the growing discontent among the working class and poor. In major cities across the country, the state has employed Section 144, a piece of colonial legislation, which denies the right to public gatherings of more than four people. This draconian legislation was recently used – illegally – to attack our comrades when the police in Lahore raided our national office to break up a meeting commemorating International Working Women’s Day on 8 March.

At the end of the first day, separate commissions were held to discuss our recruitment campaign, work amongst women, our paper: The Communist, and the upcoming May Day. Rob Sewell introduced a separate meeting of the Kashmiri delegation in which he explained the lessons of various mass movements in history and how communists have intervened in them. He particularly emphasised that we should learn from the experience of the Paris Commune and the Bolshevik party in 1917, in order to build the forces of revolutionary communism in Kashmir on these lines.

The day ended with a spell of revolutionary singing in which everyone participated with full enthusiasm, also expressed through their dance moves. In fact, throughout the whole day, discussions were interrupted with revolutionary sloganeering and poetry, raising the spirits of everyone present. The slogans of overthrowing capitalism and defeating imperialism through a socialist revolution got an especially tremendous response from the audience and continuously raised the political temperature of the whole meeting.

How to defeat imperialism

The second day of the Congress opened with a special session on the topic of how to defeat imperialism, introduced by Adam Pal. Beforehand, the Inqalabi Communist Party published a document with a detailed analysis of the war in Iran, its implications on the region, and the way forward for the working class.

For the oppressed masses of the world, there is an understandable desire to fight against US imperialism, which remains the dominant imperialist power internationally. However, in times of war, there is great pressure for the people to rally behind their own national governments. Communists must clearly state that no capitalist government can successfully end US imperialism. We can rely only on the workers of the world, including in the United States, to fight their own capitalists at home and unite for a world socialist revolution which will do away with war and imperialism for good.

The day continued with a discussion on party building, introduced by Aftab Ashraf. The discussion centred around the need to build a professional party, able to lead the growing layer of radicalised young people who are desperate for a way out of poverty and crisis. A party which understands theory and the history of the class struggle should be a beacon of hope which can break the desperation of young people.

Our party can only play this role by raising its members to become confident cadres, steeled in the ideas of Marxism. The comrades demonstrated their desire to raise their political level through an impressive 87,000 rupees in literature sales from the bookstall at the Congress. Books covering the fundamental ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky were particularly popular. Many popular titles, such as Understanding Marx’s Capital, sold out entirely!

The Congress concluded with international reports from the various sections of the Revolutionary Communist International, which is seeing growth around the world based on a focus on organising the revolutionary youth. Comrades from Canada detailed the success which has been achieved by putting the work of building the Revolutionary Communist Party into the hands of our newest members, who are full of enthusiasm to overthrow the rotten system. The Danish delegation underlined the irreplaceable role of Marxist theory as a compass to guide our work.

In the face of a deepening capitalist crisis – marked by spiralling inflation, imperialist war, and escalating attacks on the living standards of the working class – the Congress demonstrated the unwavering commitment to class struggle of the comrades of the Inqalabi Communist Party of Pakistan. This commitment is not based on blind faith, but a revolutionary optimism based on the study of the history of class struggle and a faith in the capacity of the working class to change the world. The lessons of this Congress will lay the basis for a future mass revolutionary party in Pakistan.

Without this party, the crisis of capitalism will only deepen into barbarism. With it, the working class will write the opening chapter of its own liberation!