=> Eminent public intellectual and pioneer of alterna
Eminent public intellectual and pioneer of alternative media, David Barsamian on Tuesday advocated a sustained struggle for democracy, freedoms and justice in Pakistan.
“You must organise yourselves and resist draconian laws as democracy comes through efforts not rhetoric or sloganeering,” he said while delivering the Eqbal Ahmed Distinguished Lecture before an impressive audience at the Arts Council organised by Eqbal Ahmed Foundation and Badalti Dunya.
“You must do something authentic as you can’t wait for democracy and freedoms,” he said, adding that democracy cannot be brought through military means.
Referring to Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s famous poem against Gen Zia’s draconian laws, which brought “shame” to the country, he said “you must raise your heads now not down to launch struggle for democracy and justice.”
He said you cannot trust the US to bring democracy it (US) sees Pakistan as an instrument of its policy and extension of its power in the region.
Referring to US President Bush’s interview in which he said he supported Gen Musharraf because he was “advancing democracy in Pakistan”, David said we all know what kind of democracy the general was bringing.
He opined that justice is a prerequisite for democracy and that we have to speak and strive for it.
He believed that democracy cannot be imposed. He said that Japan and Germany were different cases as they had some prerequisites and traditions, which helped them to develop democracy after defeats in World War II.
He said that there was a vision of turning the Middle East and South Asia into “little emirates” that can be easily manipulated and pitched against each other by the imperial powers as it is “classic imperial manoeuvre.”
“You have to think about consequences of US troops entering in Pakistan,” David said. He asked what the Americans were doing in Quetta. He told the questioner that Pentagon’s alleged plan to seize Pakistan’s nuclear weapons could “ignite serious developments inside the country.” He added the US wanted to get control of Pak’s nukes but it may occupy the country as well.
Extensively talking about US-Iran relations, David termed overthrow of the Musadaq’s regime in Iran in 1953 by CIA after he nationalised oil as major event in the history, which revealed US’ real intentions of establishing its hegemony in the Middle East. He said the US attack on Iran would bring ‘catastrophic consequences’ much worse than Iraq.
The attack would also bring great impact on political situation and civil society in Pakistan, he added.
He said that, because of propaganda launched by corporate driven media, a lot of people had difficulty in understanding the reality.
About Iraq, Barsamian said three million Iraqis had been made refugees inside the country and equal number outside it while sufferings for the people were unbearable due to destruction of civic facilities.
He said US’ intentions behind occupation of Iraq had become clear when its troops allowed looting of all official buildings except the oil ministry in Baghdad. He said the US must withdraw troops, pay reparation costs and there must be accountability and justice for war crimes.
“Weapons have become the currency of empire,” he said, adding that the US was bent upon controlling strategic reserves of oil for dominance. He said that an empire behaved like a Mafia, which became angry and tried to destroy you when you stop kissing their hands and honouring them. “US’ number one product is weapons,” he said. He lamented the stunted growth of democracy in USA. “Democracy is in ICU in USA,” David said, adding that it is controlled by a handful of corporations, which have huge influence on political economy and foreign policy.
He said environmental challenges must be paid attention otherwise, “we are going to create hell not paradise on earth.”
He said Eqbal Ahmed’s words three years before 9/11 in USA that ‘Osama bin Laden is a sign of things to come’ became prophetic. He added Eqbal’s suggestion that missiles would not solve problems got credence after catastrophic consequences in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He ended his lecture by quoting Iranian poet, Hafiz’s poem, which said if there was no justice, then deprived people might go to the streets and rise against it.
Dr Mubarak Ali, Tauseef Ahmed, Ayub Malik, Husain bin Khams, Sarwar Javed and others also spoke.
Source: The News
Date:12/5/2007
” 
” 
” 
” 
” 
