While Pakistan's dictator General Pervez Musharraf has justified his November 3 imposition of emergency rule with the supposed threat of Islamic terrorism, the brunt of the crackdown has been felt by students, trade unionists, the left, the mainstream opposition parties, civil society and the movement of advocates (lawyers) — who have been in the forefront of resistance to the regime since March.
This was illustrated on November 4 when over 100 activists were arrested at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan's Lahore office while, at the same time, 25 Taliban militants were released as part of a prisoner exchange for 213 soldiers.
The state of emergency began with the pre-emptive arrest of hundreds of activists and advocates. The latter led mass protests after Musharraf sacked supreme court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in March, due to his upholding of judicial independence. These protests saw Chaudhry reinstated in July. The likelihood that the Supreme Court would rule against Musharraf being able to run for president while remain head of the military was the most likely reason for the declaration of the state of emergency that has seen Chaudhry and other Supreme Court judges placed under house arrest.
Responding to muted Western criticism, Musharraf, who originally seized power in a coup in 1999, has announced that there will be elections in January. However, opposition parties have indicated that they will not be participating in elections that can only be farcical under a state of emergency that has seen anyone who has spoken against the regime arrested.
According to Farooq Tariq, general secretary of the left-wing Labour Party of Pakistan, over 5000 people have been put behind bars since the emergency was declared. Tariq himself has managed to remain underground despite some close calls: for example, on November 14, the 54-year-old's exercise regime paid off when he literally outran pursuing police!
However other LPP leaders have been arrested and, along with trade unionists, charged under anti-terrorism and treason laws that carry a possible death sentence. Despite this, the party's weekly Urdu-language newspaper, Mazdoor Jeddojuhd, has continued to be produced, largely due to the efforts of the party's younger women cadres.
While Musharraf is detested by most Pakistanis, many mainstream politicians also lack credibility due to their background in the feudal elite, and for their association with the harsh neoliberal policies and rampant corruption that characterised the 1988-1999 period when Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party and Nawaz Sharif's Muslim League-N alternated in power. Bhutto's October 18 return from exile, and the dropping of corruption charges against her, were the result of negotiations pushed by the US, who were hoping for a power-sharing arrangement between her and Musharraf. This further damaged her credibility, however with hundreds of PPP
members rounded up after the first state of emergency decree, Bhutto changed tack and has since taken a strong stand against the regime.
On November 9, she was put under house arrest to stop her holding a rally in Rawalpindi, but was released the next day. She was again put under house-arrest on November 13 when she was planning to lead a march from Lahore to Islamabad. This has thwarted US hopes for a Musharraf-Bhutto deal, with Bhutto calling for Musharraf's resignation and making an alliance with her former rival Nawaz Sharif. This alliance has been supported by the LPP and other left-wing and grassroots forces.
A smaller mainstream party, the Movement for Justice of cricket legend Imran Khan, was initially sceptical towards Bhutto because of her negotiations with the regime, but following her call for Musharraf's resignation, indicated a willingness to unite. On November 15, Khan came out of hiding to address students at the Punjab University in Lahore. However, he was attacked by thugs from the fundamentalist party, Jamaat-i-Islami, who, despite their ostensible opposition to the military regime, kidnapped him and handed him over to police who charged him under the anti-terrorism laws.