We, the undersigned, demand an immediate end to the ongoing military operation in the North Waziristan region of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). We expect this, the sixth military operation in FATA within the last decade, to follow the pattern set by the previous “decisive” operations which resulted in death and suffering for the people of FATA.
Link: http://progpak.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/stop-the-military-operation-in-fata/
[For further analysis on the military assault, see here.]
We, the undersigned, demand an immediate end to the ongoing military operation in the North Waziristan region of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). We expect this, the sixth military operation in FATA within the last decade, to follow the pattern set by the previous “decisive” operations which resulted in death and suffering for the people of FATA.
The current operation in North Waziristan is nothing but a sham that will only increase the suffering of the people of FATA. Those declaring “full support” for the military operation choose to ignore history (and the present) at their own peril.
While we condemn religious extremism and militancy in the strongest terms, we do not believe that the problem of religious militancy in Pakistan can be addressed through military means nor by an exclusive focus on FATA as a harbour of militancy. Our demands are as follows:
1. An immediate and unconditional halt to the ongoing military operation in NorthWaziristan and other parts of Tribal Areas.
2. We demand that the people of FATA have the right to decide what to do with the problem of militancy in their area. This process must include working-classes, peasants, women and minorities in FATA – with complete accountability, full access to independent media and without any coercion from the security establishment or militant groups.
3. Public disclosure of the names, details and any alleged militant linkages of those killed in the ongoing operation.
4. Immediate abolition of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and steps to integrate FATA into mainstream Pakistan by providing guarantee of fundamental rights including rights of political association and the national penal code.
5. Formulating and implementing a pro-people development policy to reverse the systematic underdevelopment of the FATA region.
6. Ending the systematic discrimination against internally displaced persons (IDPs) from FATA, who have been denied entry into other provinces.
7. The security establishment must end its policy of supporting militant groups for strategic ends, both within Pakistan and in neighboring countries such as Afghanistan.
8. Cutting off sources of funding and support for militant groups operating in the country, for example from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.
9. Canceling all defense and unequal economic agreements with imperialist powers (such as the US) and institutions (such as the World Bank and IMF), which perpetuate uneven development and exploitation of peripheral regions like FATA.
What Pakistan needs is a new social contract based on the radical equality of all its peoples. The time is for a peoples’ movement against the Pakistani military and ruling classes’ continuing relationship with militant groups and US-Saudi imperialism. Progressives in Pakistan must remain committed to building a pro-people, anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist political alternative without blinding themselves by expressing support for short term measures that only serve to intensify the contradictions bred by almost 70 years of subservience to imperialism and exploitative capitalist development.
Standing with the peoples of Pakistan means saying no to the wars waged against them by American imperialism, the Pakistani military and its proxies. Standing with the peoples of Pakistan means holding this military accountable for its criminal acts, not cheering it on.
We say NO MORE WAR AGAINST THE PEOPLES OF PAKISTAN!
Signatories:
1 Sarah Suhail (Advocate, Lahore and PhD Student)
2 Noor Mir (Anti-War Activist, Washington DC)
3 Ehsan Rafi (Artist)
4 Eshan Rafi (Artist)
5 Ehsan Ali (Awami Action Committee Convenor and Lawyer, Gilgit Baltistan)
6 Ashraf Kakar (Awami Workers Party and Faculty, Quaid-e-Azam University)
7 Sonia Qadir (Awami Workers Party and Student, New School for Social Research)
8 Mahvish Ahmad (Awami Workers Party Islamabad/Rawalpindi)
7 Ammar Rashid (Awami Workers Party Islamabad/Rawalpindi)
8 Sher Ali Khan (Awami Workers Party Lahore, Dep Gen Sec)
9 Sara Kazmi (Awami Workers Party, Lahore)
10 Khalid Mehmood (Awami Workers Party, Vice President Punjab)
11 Hassan Mujtaba (Awami Workers Party)
12 Husna Ali (Awami Workers Party)
13 Aima Khosa (Awami Workers Party)
14 Ateeb Ahmad (Awami Workers Party)
15 Hashim Bin Rashid (Awami Workers Party)
16 Umair Javed (Awami Workers Party)
17 Shahzad Arshad (Awami Workers Party)
18 Ammar Ali Jan (Awami Workers Party)
19 Feroz Imran (Awami Workers Party)
20 Hasan Raza (Awami Workers Party)
21 Umair Rasheed (Awami Workers Party)
22 Muhammad Ali Jan (Awami Workers Party)
23 Maham Hameed (Awami Workers Party)
24 Sohaib Bodla (Awami Workers Party)
25 Fakhra Hassan (Awami Workers Party)
26 Qasim Baloch (Baloch Human Rights Activist)
27 Mir Muhammad Ali Talpur (Baloch Rights Activist)
28 S Adeel ur Rahman (Business Consultant, Karachi)
29 Campaign Against Drones in Pakistan (CADiP)
30 Arsalan Samdani (CADiP)
31 Urooj Shahzadi (CADiP)
32 Zarak Khan Kasi (Chair, Iranian Studies, SOAS)
33 Kamran Vardag (Chairman, Green Peoples Movement, Islamabad)
34 Nasha Ali Shah (Concerned Citizen and Social Activist)
35 Meera Ghani (Concerned Citizen)
36 Alia Ali (Concerned Citizen)
37 Nabeel Shakeel Ahmed (Concerned Citizen)
38 Waqas Ali Zaheer (Democratic Students Federation DSF)
39 Ali Arqam (Freelance Journalist, Karachi)
40 Haider Ali (FSc Student, Faisalabad)
41 Adnan Atta (Geologist, University of the Punjab)
42 Huma Dar (Graduate student, University of California – Berekeley)
43 Asha Amirali (Graduate Student, University of Oxford)
44 Sobia Kapadia (Human Right Activist and Architect, Karachi)
45 Tahir Jan (Inqilabi Socialist Hunza)
46 Riaz Shah (Inqlabi Sociaists, Central Organiser and Doctor, Karachi)
47 Rizwan Atta (Inqlabi Socialists & Journalist, Lahore)
48 Naghma Shaikh (Inqlabi Socialists and Feminist Activist, Karachi)
49 Ali Sajjad (Inqlabi Socialists and Teacher, Faisalabad)
50 Rehana Channer (Inqlabi Socialists and Teacher/Poet, Karachi)
51 Sartaj Khan (Inqlabi Socialists IS Pakistan, Editor “Socialist” Urdu)
52 Riaz Ahmed (Inqlabi Socialists Pakistan and Teacher, Karachi University)
53 Asim Jaan (Inqlabi Socialists Pakistan)
54 Adnan Ata (Inqlabi Socialists Pakistan)
55 Inqlabi Socialists Pakistan (Inqlabi Socialists Pakistan)
56 Irfan Dawar (Internee, FATA Development Authority)
57 Ali Yawar (Irtiqa Institute, Karachi)
58 Naveed Iqbal (Islamabad)
59 Chris Hedges (Journalist and Author, Pulitzer Prize Winner 2002)
60 Miranda Husain (Journalist, Lahore)
61 Rifatullah (Journalist, Peshawar)
62 Mustafa Bhutto (Karachi)
63 Sophia Hasnain (Karachi)
64 Reem Khalid (Karachi)
65 Nofil Naqvi (Karachi)
66 Roza Khan (Khaton Pakistan College Student, Karachi)
67 Dr Alamgir Khan Shinwari (Khyber Agency, FATA)
68 Abdul Haleem (Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
69 Amanullah Jiffrey Kariapper (Lahore)
70 Abira Ashfaq (Lawyer, Pakistan)
71 Aneeqa Khan (LUMS & SOAS)
72 Talha Naushad (LUMS)
73 Taimoor Shahid (LUMS)
74 Adnan Khan (Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
75 Muhammad Azam Khan (Malakand, KP and Islamabad)
76 Arfan Chaudhry (National Students Federation NSF Punjab, President)
77 Khurram Ali (National Students Federation NSF, Central Organiser)
78 Fawad Hasan (NSF Karachi, Gen Sec)
79 Fatima Zaidi (NSF Karachi, President)
80 Ali Raza (NSF Punjab, Organiser)
81 Mir Askari (NSF Sindh, Organiser)
82 Alia Amirali (NSF, Gen Sec Punjab)
83 Mian Naveed (NSF, General Secretary)
84 National Students Federation (NSF)
85 Rashid Khan Orakzai (Orakzai Agency, FATA)
86 Maryam Kanwer (Pakistan Youth Alliance PYA, C0-Founder)
87 Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi (Pakistan Youth Alliance PYA, Founder)
88 Sabeen Mahmud (Peace Niche, Karachi)
89 Sarwat Viqar (PhD Candidate, Concordia University)
90 Marianna Assis (PhD Student, New School for Social Research)
91 Adaner Usmani (PhD Student, New York University)
92 Asif Akhtar (PhD Student, New York University)
93 Natalya Naqvi (PhD Student, University of Cambridge)
94 Shahram Azhar (PhD Student, University of Massachusetts)
95 Sahista Patel (PhD Student, University of Toronto)
96 Amen Jaffer (PhD Student)
97 Shozab Raza (PhD Student)
98 Ali Hassan (Principal High School, Karachi)
99 Zahra Khalid (Professional, Islamabad)
100 Khadija Ali (Professional, Islamabad)
101 Saadia Toor (Professor, CUNY New York)
102 Ali Nobil Ahmad (Professor, LUMS)
103 Tariq Amin-Khan (Professor, Ryerson University)
104 Sahar Shafqat (Professor, St. Mary’s College of Maryland)
105 Hadia Akhtar (Quaid-i-Azam University)
106 Waqas Butt (Researcher, University of California, San Diego)
107 Anders Widmark (Researcher, Uppsala University)
108 Nadia Hasan (SARG South Asia Research Group , York University)
109 Nausheen Quayyum (SARG, York University)
110 Nishant Upadhyay (SARG, York University)
111 Nayani Thiyagarajah (SARG, York University)
112 Tanveer Hussain (School Teacher, Karachi)
113 (SOAS, Senior Teaching Fellow) (SOAS and Editor, International Socialist Review)
114 Sanaa Alimia (SOAS, Senior Teaching and Postdoctoral Fellow)
115 Peter Boyle (Socialist Alliance, Australia)
116 Tony Iltis (Socialist Alliance, Australia)
117 Margaret Gleeson (Socialist Alliance, Brisbane Australia)
118 Uneeb Khan (Software Architect, Lahore)
119 Usman Rana (Student Activist)
120 Usmaan Basharat (Student, Arizone State University)
121 Omer Aijazi (Student, British Columbia)
122 Sohaib Ibrahim Khan (Student, Columbia University, New York)
123 Fatima Tassadiq (Student, Columbia University)
124 Zarak Khan Kasi (Student, Coventry University)
125 Bilal Anwar (Student, FC College Lahore)
126 Haider Tupi (Student, Karachi)
127 Fatima Javed (Student, LUMS)
128 Virinder Singh (Student, Manchester University)
129 Haider Naqvi (Student, New School, New York)
130 Asad Ur Rehman (Student, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics)
131 Hassan Turi (Student, Parachinar FATA)
132 Iman Sultan (Student, Temple University, Philadelphia)
133 Tayyaba Jiwani (Student, University of Toronto)
134 Arsalan Khan (Student, University of Virginia)
135 Aina Niaz (Student, Utah State University)
136 Ayyaz Mallick (Student, York University, Toronto)
137 Mehreen Kasana (Student)
138 Chloe Bourcier (Student)
139 Myra Faza (Student)
140 Naila Ali (Student)
141 Halimah Babakarkhail (Student)
142 Fatima Anwar (Student)
143 Jahanzeb Dar (Student)
144 Asghar Dashti (Teacher Federal Urdu University Karachi)
145 Iman Sultan (Teacher, Islamabad)
146 Faisal ur Rahman (Teacher, Karachi)
147 Erum Haider (Teaching Fellow, LUMS and PhD Student, Georgetown University)
148 Zehra Goawala (University of Melbourne)
149 Shamineh Mavalvala (University of Toronto, Sussex University)
150 Muneeb Siddiqui (Writer)
151 Ibad Khurram Khan
152 Rabayl Mirza
153 Moaiz Siddiqui
154 Vaqas Arshad
155 Ziyaad Yousef
156 Zehra Hashmi
157 Fahad Rizwan
158 Mahwish Humayun
159 Muhammad Shehryar
160 Atif Sheikh
161 Usman Khalid Kashmiri
162 Beenish Raza
163 Farooq Tariq
