Hey troll. Put up or shut up. Such cover ups and character assassinations would have worked in the past, but no longer. The longer this kind of attitude is kept up, the deeper you'll sink and the bigger the hole will be you're digging.

considering the amount of rape in the world, if rapists all got a bullet then that would require a huge scale mass murder of rapists.

the IMT leadership can't explain this away and if they covered it up then I don't trust them to take care of it themselves

ok. So where is the IMT leadership statement on the issue?

I might be wrong, but I don't believe this is the first case where allegations came against an IMT section or leader and there was literally no published response to it. Maybe someone can fill in the blanks here for me?

Don't expect anything forthcoming from them in a hope that it'll blow over. Cue the mindless robots throwing the mud in order to "defend" their organisation (I see leon T's posts more as hurting for the IMT, but hey).

So, in the mean time, spread the word far and wide, so the IMT will eventually be forced to stop ignoring it and take some sort of action.

The mere fact that they're acting in this manner is also very telling of course.

@leon T: You don't know me in the least. Calling me a "keyboard warrior" is just some more desperate mud that is thrown around and doesn't impress anyone.

Obviously rape is a sensitive issue and that any kind of accusations need to be investigated fully to make sure the accused are not being slandered. However, none of those things you list disprove the validity of the accusations at all.

It got brought up two years ago? Many rape cases come out years after the act. Rape accusations against the Catholic church took decades in some cases to come out. No legal action? Most real rapes go unreported to the police, out of fear that the police will not do anything, out of guilt or self-blame, or for any other number of tragic reasons. Again, not anything which makes the claims false. No other witnesses? Well, how many rapists go out and rape people in public where everyone can get a good look?

I don't want to get too deep into this with all the facts still not totally clear. Though at this point, the IMT is certainly acting as if they are guilty as charged!

I just want to point out that according to the denunciation, the IMT folk charging their leaders with covering up rape didn't go public about this for two years exactly because they wanted to give the IMT leaders time to realize that there was something very rotten in Denmark themselves, being loyal members of the organization, and they have only gone public out of despair.

That it seems to me adds to their credibility rather than detracting from it.

-M.H.-

Happy birthday. You're banned.

Thank you!

So, now that piece of shit has dropped off, let's return on topic here.

Does anyone know about any actual statement of the IMT yet regarding this?

As for KarlMarx.net: They've published a new piece on this:

If the IMT had any basic decency around this, at bare minimum some IMT supporters, and there at least used to be plenty of 'em here, would be rushing online to disassociate the IMT from this incredibly outrageous and bannable statement.

Or did they all follow the infamous "mrmikhail" off to Skidmarx? (Where he actually hasn't made an appearance, diving back into whatever mysterious hole he crawled out of).

-M.H.-

I think the exodus of IMT supporters, from revleft, or, if we're lucky, from politics in general, will be no loss. The IMT exists to create social democrats, good little Labourites, Chávez worshippers, etc. They take radical workers or subjectively revolutionary young people to submerge them in social democratic, Stalinist, or bourgeois nationalist formations, like chavismo, never to be heard from again. The IMT is the tendency that claimed that Ehud Barak's "Labor" Party in Israel was "leftist," when, in fact, that party represented the Zionist establishment.

That the IMT can find nothing better to do than serve as Chávez' volunteer publicists and tireless cheerleaders forever, no matter what, even after Chávez repeatedly embraced the unspeakable Ahmadinejad, shows just how low the IMT had sunk, even before the appalling news about the misogynist attack in the Pakistani IMT section. It's difficult to think of another tendency whose discrediting and, one can but hope, disappearance, will be such a boon for working people.

Just a note: One of the globals or admins should go back and split and trash the whole discussion with that tool, including all the pics he posted. It's too hard to move through the thread without getting side-tracked and the pics are inappropriate for many of our members accessing the site from a public location.

- August

moved 99% of Leon T´s posts and the subsequent reactions to him to the trash.

Explanation for those who find their posts moved:

Though I would invite anybody who can make a sound argument for the IMT this Leon T shit was just plain silly and more directed at derailing the thread than making any kind of sound argument. I appreciated all other users who replied to him. Your arguments...most of them were very much to the point. And I am sorry I had to move them. Especially since almost all of them were very much showing an incredible amount of restraint and civility. A sincere thanx.

But given the seriousness of the topic I think the subject deserves to get pruned back to the on-topic relevant debate instead of getting snowed in by some troll having the goal in mind to detract from the issue at hand..

Please continue...

I read this post this morning, but didn't want to get involved at the time. As a woman, Rape is very serious, and should be taken seriously. However, I would like to point out a few things, from what was deleted today. Leon T gained all his information from this detailed post, but I think he made some stuff up. He is also from London, so he probable hears Heiko more then we do. I do not think this was an official statement from the IMT, but rather a person who objects to Heiko personally. I would like to hear an actual member of the IMT at least acknowledge they are investigating it...at the very least. We shouldn't be making any judjments either way based on this one post from Karlmarx.net.

I have read this "document" and first of all I thought I would not pay much attention to a statement which is unsigned (other than "comrades here and there"), why no names? not even initials? I mean, anyone could have made this up and then relied on people like the TANIT crowd (Heiko and Jonathan Clyne) to spread it widely.

However, the "document" builds up its credibility by mentioning names and places, so-called witnesses and then people who talked about the "incident", etc.

Finally, I got hold of a response by the IMT, which I have to say it demolishes the whole story very effectively. All of the "witnesses" quoted in the document of allegations have signed statements saying the whole story is a fabrication, as well as the alleged "victim" (with the one exception of "Xulfi Marxist" himself who seems to be the author of the document). There are even people who are quoted as having complained to the school the day after the incident, who have signed a statement saying they were not even present.

What I think needs to be asked, seriously, is, why did TANIT chose to spread these allegations, make them public, without even checking any of the facts? Are they just naive? Are they malicious? Are they motivated by spite against the IMT? Is there something more to it? I think one has the right to ask these questions.
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Dossier:

Halt the provocations!
Support the Pakistan Marxists!

In the last weeks a new attack has been waged against The Struggle, the Pakistani section of the International Marxist Tendency. This attack is aimed at some of our most prominent members, comrades who have been actively involved in leading positions in the mass movement. The launching of this campaign of slanders and fabrications is no accident, and nor is its timing. It has all the hallmarks of a deliberate provocation.

The perpetrators of this provocation have been promoting the idea that a crisis in the section has erupted and a large number of members have resigned in Hyderabad, Kashmir, Karachi, etc. There is not a single word of truth in this.

The most disgusting aspect of this campaign is the allegation that a female comrade of the Pakistan section has been “gang-raped” (!) at a Marxist school. It is further claimed that this alleged act was carried out by some leading comrades, and that the leadership of the section had covered that up.

These slanderous allegations have been widely circulated in public and semi-public forums by a few former members of the IMT and its Pakistan section who have publicised them by the usual tactic of mass spamming to undisclosed recipients, on Facebook and postings on some leftist forums.

All these accusations are baseless and false. They only have one aim: to undermine and destroy the Marxist Tendency.
Two worlds
There are two worlds. They are so different that they might as well be two planets. And one world has no knowledge or understanding of the other.
The first world is comfortable to live in. In this world a man can sit before a computer screen and live in a virtual world of “revolutionary struggle”. He can do this all day, every day because he has nothing else to do. In such “struggles” no shots are fired and nobody is killed or injured. It is a comfortable sort of “revolutionary struggle”.
In this world small groups, frequently consisting of one or two sad individuals, constantly spy on other, similar, groups. They study all the minutiae of what is said and written (but not what is done, because they never actually do anything). They comment, discuss and gossip – above all, gossip. They assiduously spread the latest gossip, no matter how outrageous. In such circles, this is what passes for “revolutionary activity” – which is no activity at all.
Then there is another world. It is the world of countries like Pakistan. Here the revolutionary struggle takes place on a quite different level. Very few people sit in front of computers because they cannot afford them. They can scarcely afford bread. Very few people read what is published on Facebook because many people cannot read at all.
In Pakistan, the revolutionary struggle is fought for real. In this struggle, people are killed every day. People are arrested and tortured by the police. People are killed by American drones and murdered by the bosses agents or religious fanatics. The struggle between political parties is often conducted with fists and guns.
In addition to physical violence and actual assassination, there are other weapons: slander, lies, intrigues and character assassination. Corruption is yet another weapon. Corruption exists in the developed nations also. It can be seen in American elections. But nothing in Europe and America can compare with the level of obscene corruption in Pakistan’s political life.
In Pakistan everything is for sale, not just discreetly, in the corridors of power, but openly, blatantly, and in the public market place. Members of parliament change parties in exchange for vast sums of money. The possession of public office is regarded only as a means of plundering the people. There are no real corruption scandals because corruption is accepted as a way of life.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which grew on the basis of the 1968-9 Revolution, is really two parties. On the one hand there are the millions of workers and peasants who vote for the PPP and stand for socialism, and hundreds of thousands of loyal Party members who stand for the same thing. On the other hand there is Zardari, one of the richest men in Pakistan, and the right-wing clique who control the leadership and are in government.
These two parties are at war. The right wing Zardari clique has completely sold out to big business and US imperialism. It is corrupt to the marrow of its bones. It is carrying out a vicious anti-working class policy. It is privatizing everything in the interests of the capitalists. It is presiding over falling living standards and daily power outages. It is collaborating with the USA. And it is hated by the workers and peasants.
The workers and peasants of Pakistan have no alternative but to fight to defend themselves. This is not a matter of choice. The workers of Britain or the USA are facing hardship. But the workers of Pakistan are facing actual hunger.
Despite extremely difficult conditions, there have been many strikes. And in many cases these strikes and protests have been led by members of the Pakistan Section of the IMT. This has enraged the PPP leadership, which has been waging war on the Marxist Tendency for years. This one-sided war was intensified when Zardari came to power.
This latest attack is just one more example of this.
1) The story of “gang rape”

The story of gang-rape is a complete fabrication from start to finish. In the first place, we wish to point out that the female comrade who our enemies are targeting in this malicious campaign is a respected leading figure of the Pakistan section who is currently leading our women’s work in Karachi.
The comrade was completely surprised when she heard about this story. She indignantly denies that any part of this atrocious tale is true. As a matter of fact, she is enjoying her revolutionary work with the leading comrades of Karachi and regularly attends Marxist Schools.
She was present at both National schools held in 2011, though she had to travel a long distance and had to spend from her meager income. Her pictures can be seen in the reports of those schools.
Actually, the National Schools this year were a big success. Not only was the participation huge but the level of discussion was very high. A member of the CEC of the PPP was present at our National school in Multan. He attended whole school for three days with pen and paper in his hands, listening to lead offs by comrades half his age. He made only one intervention in the school in which he said that if these schools happened at the time of his youth, things would have been different now. Actually 50 percent of the youth at the Marxist school in Multan were below 20 years of age.
Another important feature of the National School is the meeting of the National Women Bureau. For last 2 years we have been regularly holding 3 national meetings of the NWB every year: one at the Congress and 2 along side the National School. This has helped to advance our women work, especially the cadre building of women comrades is being focused, which is giving good results.
We will not reveal the identity of this comrade out of respect for her personal dignity and honor, unlike our enemies, who did not hesitate to give details about her in public, knowing that this would do her harm. We have in our possession a letter in which she emphatically denies that any such thing occurred.
The first thing to note is that these allegations are UNSIGNED. The second point is they are COMPLETELY UNSUBSTANTIATED.
The alleged victim has sent us a signed statement denying that the alleged offence ever took place. She writes the following:
“Hello comrades!
“The story of gang rape is totally manufactured by enemies of IMT. I seriously condemn this act and declare that I am enjoying revolutionary work with leading comrades in Karachi and elsewhere. I also want to declare that it is a daunting task for women here to participate in revolutionary work. It is a common practice here to spread rumours and scandalize comrades.
“Enemies of revolution are using mean tactics to destroy our work. I condemn all this and vow to continue my struggle for the emancipation of working class.
“With Bolshevik regards,
[Signed] 18/2/2012”
This letter should make all those who participated in this vicious campaign, helping to circulate such lies, hang their heads in shame, if they have any shame left – which we doubt.
2) The “witnesses”

What about the “witnesses” cited by the accusers? The key “witness” (the female “comrade I.”) has sent us a signed statement saying that her alleged statement is false and a malicious invention. She has written the following:
“Dear comrades,
“As I informed on 17th February by comrades that Zafar Imam wrote an email in which he wrote a statement about me that I had been eye witnessed of a gang rape happened to a female comrade at Karachi School in December 2010. When I saw my statement in e-mail I was completely shocked that how Zafar can wrote that statement about me without asking me? I want to tell you that I with my husband and other comrades of Hyderabad went to Karachi school which was so highly educational experienced for me.
“I need to tell you, that night no any such incident happened at school. Zafar has blamed highly dirty and cheap allegations on organisation and comrades. I am going to tell you about the location of that hut where the school was held. There were two big rooms, one corridor holding grand lawn. One room was allotted for female comrades and more than 100 comrades used to sleep rest of the hut.
“As you know that after sessions in evening comrades organize social gatherings in which comrades singing, dancing and enjoying with each other, however that night all comrades were also present in the lawn and making discussion. I and more than 20 other male and female comrades were there in exciting mood. After a moment comrades of management made an announcement that all comrades go to their room and get sleep, because next day we start last day’s sessions early in the morning and many comrades have to sleep in that lawn and then we all females went to our room making discussion till late night and gone sleep.
“How can such incident (gang rape) happen in a place where about 200 comrades gathered? And how can any comrade act like that? Zafar Imam who made a fake and dirty statement about me. He was participated many organizational events and activities with his sisters and wife, and never such any incident happen to his family and now he is alleging on comrades. It can be judged this cultural, political and ideological level from such allegations he created.
“The main point is that he was not present at the school because on the 3rd December there was a reception of his own marriage in his town Shahdadkot. And as he mentioned that I resigned from organizational membership is not true. I am still active member at my branch in Hyderabad Area. I am taking part in all organizational activities and recently we organized an Area Marxist School in Hyderabad office.
“I request to the comrades don’t consider such information by these people, who one making fake propaganda against IMT and Pakistani Section. [Signed]” (our emphasis)
This letter speaks for itself. It presents a truthful account of what really happened at the school. It also points out that the individual making the accusations was not even present at the school where this was supposed to have occurred. The statement claims she “resigned from the organization in disgust”. In fact, this comrade never resigned and is playing a very active role in the organization.
From this it is abundantly clear that there is not a word of truth in all these accusations.
Another "eyewitness" named in the "report" is comrade Tahir, an ex-member of the organization. He has told us the following:

"It is pointed out that my name is badly used as witness in the bogus story of "rape case" in the Marxist school at Hox Bay Karachi on 4/12/10, which [is] launched by ex angry member of The Struggle comrade Rashid Lughari. Moreover, I left behind all political activities of The Struggle as a past stories... it is request to all comrades of the IMT Pakistan section: please don't believe on such bogus references.

“With best wishes Tahir Biag"

Among the innumerable falsehoods and inventions, the “report” states that “the Gulab Leghari area dissolved itself” in protest at the “expulsions”. This is completely without foundation. We have a letter from the Regional secretary of Sindh, including the list of membership of Gulab Leghari sub area, with 35 names.

Finally, the "report" talks of Amjad Lakheer mentioning the so-called gang rape the day after in the plenary session. This is also false. In fact, this comrade was not even present in that school. We have a signed statement by him confirming this.

In other words, the alleged victim completely denies that any such incident occurred, and this is firmly backed up by all the witnesses – except for one. THE ONE EXCEPTION IS “XULFI MARXIST” – THE ONE WHO HAS CONCOCTED THE ENTIRE STORY.

With this totally unfounded slander, our core work of cadre building is being targeted which shows that this is the result of serious planning of our enemies. By circulating this manufactured story of “gang rape” our enemies want to sabotage our important activity of National School. If such rumors are put in circulation and gain credence, it will be very difficult to get more women to participate, as a result of pressure from parents, husbands, brothers etc.
Those who manufactured this story know just what they are doing. Anyone who knows anything about Pakistan society knows that it is extremely difficult to get women to participate actively in a Marxist organization. Thanks to the tireless and self-sacrificing work of our female comrades we have made good progress in our work in this important field, although there is a lot more to be done.
The timing is also no accident. The attacks are taking place at a time when we are focusing on our preparations for the 2012 congress. With a big rise in fares and other commodities it is a lot more difficult for comrades with meager incomes to attend congress this year. This unscrupulous attack by our enemies is nothing else but a desperate effort to sabotage our congress.
3) More lies: The JKNSF
Another lie that is put in circulation is that the Marxists have “lost control of the JKNSF (Jammu Kashmir National Student Federation)”.
The allegation that the JKNSF has been hijacked by nationalist elements and has gone out of the influence of International Marxist Tendency is baseless. The realities on the ground are quite the opposite of what is being presented by this dishonest propaganda. As recently as December 28th, 2011 the JKNSF held its central convention in Rawalpindi, with the participation of more than 2000 students and youngsters.
The convention was not only attended by the leadership of the JKNSF but leadership of many other student organizations was also present there. These include: Tariq Afghan (President Pashtoon Student Federation), Zubair Baloch (Senior Vice President Baloch Student Organization), Saqib Farooq (Chairman Publicity Board Jammu Kashmir Peoples Students Federation) and leaders from many trade unions.
This convention was an important milestone in the history of student politics of Kashmir and Pakistan, as representatives from progressive student organizations of all the provinces and nationalities attended it and a serious debate on the ideas of Marxism started within different organizations after it. This will help spread the ideas of revolutionary Marxism within wider layer of youth in the future.
The Central Leadership of the JKNSF was elected unanimously in the convention. The average age of this leadership is not more than 20 years and majority of them are studying at various colleges and universities. Hence, for the first time in the history of the JKNSF, a real students' leadership has not only came forward but was elected in a purely democratic and transparent way.
After the convention, an alliance of progressive student federations with the name of "All Pakistan Progressive Youth Alliance" was formed, and the ex JKNSF president, comrade Amjad Shahsawar was elected as its organizer which shows that our student work is a role model and inspiration for other progressive student organizations.
A few days ago, the anniversary of the death of Maqbool Butt, a hero of the Kashmir independence movement, was celebrated by the branches of the JKNSF, not only in Kashmir, but in various cities of Pakistan. Marvelous rallies and seminars attended by hundreds of students were organized in Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Bagh, Rawlakot, Sandnoti and Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi.
Right now the JKNSF is the only student organization in Kashmir active in the struggle for solutions to the common problems faced by students and youth. Central President JKNSF comrade Rashid Sheikh visited whole of Kashmir in January 2012, when he arranged meetings and a serious debate on organization building took place.
The slanderers are basing themselves on the fact that a couple of former activists of JKNSF left us because they wanted to have the new president’s position. However, the young comrades refused, not just because of their over age which is nearly 40, but because of their sabotaging activities against IMT, carried out at the behest of Manzoor Ahmed and co. One of them, Shoaib Sham had actually left JKNSF many years ago.
As usual, disgruntled elements who abandon the Marxist movement feel the need to blacken its name in order to justify their desertion. But we do not need the company of deserters who go over to the ranks of the class enemy. They are very welcome to them.
4) Our revolutionary work
Because of our work in the PPP and labour movement the leadership of PPP and Peoples Labour Bureau (the PPP trade union wing) is worried about the growing influence of the Marxists. Let us just cite a few recent examples:
Also, on the death of Nusrat Bhutto, mother of Benazir Bhutto and wife of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, we organized a condolence public meeting in Malir, Karachi from where we contested general elections in 2008. This public meeting was organized from the platform of committee of ideological workers inside PPP.
It was a successful meeting in which die-hard workers of PPP openly spoke against the leadership. Also we are holding study circles of leading members of youth and student wings of the PPP in Karachi‘s most dangerous areas.
Due to these activities our comrades in Karachi received death threats, first from MQM and later by Peoples Aman (Peace) Committee which is an armed gang propped up by the PPP leadership.
Our position against the alliance of the PPP with the MQM (a neo-fascist party) is attracting many workers towards us.
On 5th January in Hyderabad press club, we celebrated the birthday of PPP founder ZulfikarAli Bhutto with veteran Communist leader Jam Saqi as chief guest. This was organized on the platform of the ideological workers inside PPP. Similar activities are being held in Gulab Leghari and many other cities of Sindh, which is considered as the strongest base of PPP. (ZAB and his family is from Sindh). This is annoying not only the local leadership of PPP but also the top leadership.
On the trade union front, the PTUDC is getting a lot of influence in trade union movement. The nationwide tour of the PTUDC leadership was a big success.( )
From Malakand in the North to Karachi in the south comrades travelled to all the big cities and proletarian centres and held successful public meetings, conventions, rallies etc. The important thing is that many major trade union leaders not only participated under our banner but expressed complete solidarity with us.
The CBA unions from OGDCL (the Oil and Gas Company of the Pakistan government.), CDA Islamabad, Railways, WAPDA and many others showed their appreciation of the work of the PTUDC and vowed to join our struggle.
A successful labour conference in Islamabad recently was also a big blow to opportunists in labour movement and PPP( )
A few days ago workers of hospitals in Islamabad won a big battle due to our participation in the struggle. Our comrades were playing key role in nurses union while other comrades were inviting trade union leaders from other key sectors who made speeches there and supported this movement. (
WAPDA, the Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority, was created in 1958 as a Semi-Autonomous Body for the purpose of coordinating and giving a unified direction to the development of schemes in Water and Power Sectors, which were previously being dealt with, by the respective Electricity and Irrigation Department of the Provinces.WAPDA is the key department in Pakistan not only strategically but also because it has the largest workforce. Hydro union of WAPDA is the largest union in Pakistan and is leading the largest federation Pakistan Workers Federation and confederation.
In the last week of December 2011 a national public meeting of Hydro union was held in Hyderabad in which its central leadership was participating. This meeting was called to denounce the current policy of the government to privatize WAPDA and break it into smaller units at regional levels. Hundreds of workers were there. The central leadership, as always was giving no concrete strategy and was confusing workers. In the meantime with the efforts of PTUDC comrades in Hyderabad, comrade Paras got a chance to speak. Actually this happened due to the efforts of our comrades from the Jamshoro Power Station branch. Jamshoro Power Station is also being privatized along with 8 other Power Stations in Pakistan.
Comrade Paras took a strong position and said that we should go on strike against this and, if necessary, we should switch off the electricity of the entire country against this policy. This made the workers jubilant and they took Paras on their shoulders. After that a resolution was passed from the platform, that if government will not end its policy of privatizing WAPDA we will go on strike and eventually will switch off the electricity of the entire country.
The Central Leadership of WAPDA was quite embarrassed.
There are many other incidents where our comrades have done marvelous interventions in trade union movement.
In the Steel Mills in Karachi our influence is growing. Our comrade is joint secretary of the CBA and is fighting against the policies of the union leaders and the PPP government. Also we have set up a new branch among young workers of the Steel Mills.
In Lahore, we are reviving the tradition of Arif Shah, which is creating panic for the industry owners in North Lahore. Young doctors are also very active against Punjab government and have won important battles which resulted in a huge increase in their salaries. These days they are on strike against a fake medicines scandal of Punjab government. YDA, Young Doctors Association is actually our brainchild and led by our longstanding comrade Dr. Aftab who is currently Information Secretary of YDA Punjab.
In Rahim Yar Khan, the PTUDC is leading the labour movement and we have branches and comrades in Unilever, Coca Cola, FFC etc.
In Nestle, Kabirwala, a big struggle was recently launched by the workers against the management in which trade union leaders were even sent to jail. The PTUDC played a key role in defending the rights of the workers.
Another industrial hub is Taxila, Wah where we have made good advances. In Pakistan Ordnance Factory Wah we have won leadership of CBA and are holding regular study circles.
In the Railways we are also advancing. We have 3 branches in Railways in Rawalpindi, in Peshawar we are leading both the unions in Railways (labour union and workers union), General Secretary of Labour union Peshawar Railway is CC member (Railways minister is also from Peshawar, who is threatening our comrades). in Multan and Khanewal we have one branch each in Railways, in Hyderabad, Mirpur Khas, Rohri, Quetta and Karachi leading union leaders are members of PTUDC and org. May day 2011 in Quetta was held on Railway Station.
5) Who is being attacked?
The main target of these calumnies is the alleged victim of “rape” herself. Those who invented this story are well aware of the serious consequences for such things in Pakistan. This is a cynical attempt to disrupt our work among women, which will not succeed in its objective. We have already published her reply above.
The other targets are leading members of the Section, starting with comrade Riaz Lund, a courageous class fighter with a proven record of years of revolutionary struggle. Comrade Riaz played an important role in some of the moist significant struggles of the Pakistan working class, including the victory of the PIA and Karachi electric supply workers last year, which enormously boosted the influence and stature of the IMT amongst the workers.
Our enemies cannot forgive Riaz Lund for getting 46,080 votes in the 2008 elections - the highest ever vote for PPP in that constituency. Comrade Lund achieved this in struggle against the neo -fascist MQM. Yet after the elections the PPP leaders formed an alliance with the MQM. This has infuriated the PPP rank and file in Karachi, which is Pakistan’s Petrograd.

The other leading comrade being attacked is comrade Paras, who has also played a leading role in the struggles of the workers in the recent period. In 2011 there was a big movement of workers in the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation KESC in which comrade Paras and others played a leading role.
The speeches of comrade Paras played a key role in keeping the movement alive for many months. Thousands of workers gathered in sit-ins for many weeks and in strike etc. always listened to comrade Paras with interest and carried him on their shoulders after his speeches raising revolutionary slogans.
In a speech at a sit in on 14th August 2011(Independence Day of Pakistan) when all the leadership of the Karachi PPP was sitting on stage, comrade Paras first of all criticized right wing parties and then openly criticized the anti labour policies of the PPP government. He said that workers will take revenge on Gilani and other leaders who are betraying the founding principles of the PPP. Nearly 10,000 workers present at that time chanted revolutionary slogans in jubilation. But the PPP leadership was annoyed.
No we have an active branch of most militant and leading workers of KESC. All this is casing alarm in the upper ranks of the PPP and the trade union bureaucracy. That, and no other, is the reason why they are trying to spread poisonous attacks against leading Marxist militants of unimpeachable honor.
6) What is the reason for this attack?

It is difficult for someone who is used to the relatively civilized standards of a western bourgeois democracy to comprehend the methods used by the PPP bureaucracy, which is closely enmeshed with the Pakistan state. The levels of intrigue go far beyond what would be considered normal even for the most corrupt and degenerate bureaucratic leaders in the west.
The Pakistani state has noted the successes of the Marxist Tendency, and Zardari and the right wing PPP leadership has been trying to orchestrate a covert campaign to damage the organization. He tried to do this first from within through treachery and deceit. He bought the services of Manzoor Ahmed for this purpose. But the organization defeated these attacks and intrigues.

Zardari looked for a weak link in our leadership and found it in Manzoor Ahmed, whom he bribed with the offer of a high position in the Party, following his election defeat. We have already given full details of how this was done. At first, Zardari attempted to use Manzoor to bring the Marxists under control. But this tactic failed and Manzoor was compelled to leave the organization with a small handful of people whom he had corrupted with offers of jobs, contracts or promotion. This so called ‘drama’ was orchestrated and staged with the sponsorship of the Pakistani establishment.
Since that time, the main activity of this renegade, apart from pushing Zardari’s privatization campaign, has been to undermine, split and destroy the Marxist Tendency. For this task he has been provided with plush offices in Islamabad, manned by well-paid stooges. Their sole activity is to spy on the Marxist Tendency, infiltrate it to undermine it from within, organize splits etc.
They assiduously gather information about any internal problems and gossip about comrades’ personal lives – anything that can be “recycled”, magnified, exaggerated and turned into black propaganda and slanders. They systematically recruit people with grudges, egotists, careerists who feel they have not been sufficiently promoted and so on, whom they use for organizing intrigues and provocations.
7) Who is making these allegations?
We have seen the names of the people who (publicly) are behind the allegations. We know these individuals very well. They are former members of the Tendency who left for a variety of reasons and have a deep grudge against us. They are partly motivated by spite, but also have allowed themelves to be manipulated by hostile elements who are pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
a) As far as Adil Khan is concerned he left the organization, seduced by the offers made to him by Manzoor Ahmed. He was present in many open activities sponsored by M.A., paid for by the funds doled out by Kashmir Government.
b) Zafar Imam from Sindh writes a column in Sindhi newspapers almost daily. Because of this, a few people started to know him, which has filled his intellectual ego with a lot of hot air. Due to “pressure” from his readers he changed his position on the National Question and PPP work. He has openly criticized IMT in his columns. Also, he told comrades in Hyderabad that because he is now a famous person, they should not ask him to buy paper, pay subs or attend meetings. Comrades should meet him only through his columns.

c) Dr. Harish was a full timer (4 years ago) but withdrew from that after a failed love affair. He is presently working as a doctor of psychiatry and works in 3 different mental hospitals at different times. This means that he has been unable to carry out his revolutionary duties satisfactorily. This comrade’s record shows that he is personally extremely unstable and unreliable.

Dr. Harish is also general secretary of Left Unity - a group of various NGOs and sects in Sindh, and sponsored by ISI. Comrades opposed Harish accepting this position but he couldn’t resist, due to his weak character and opportunistic tendencies. He is always the main speaker in gatherings of this organization.
Ironically, only a few months back Zafar Imam and Dr. Harish were bitter enemies of each other and were not ready to work with each other. They made serious allegations against each other. Now they have joined together to attack the Section. It is not the first time we have seen such a thing, nor will it be the last.
d) Xulfi and Rashid Leghari are both declassed youth who benefit from a bit of higher wages from Zafar and Harish. Neither of them have paid their subs for last 2 years and they were not attending official meetings. They were not only ridiculing active comrades but threatening them if they did not agree with them. They were in regular contact with lumpenproletarian elements of students federations of Nationalist parties, who are infamous for kidnapping for ransom, target killing etc.

The case of Xulfi (who pretentiously signs himself Xulfi Marxist) would be funny if its implications were not so serious. His “activities” were entirely confined to Facebook, where he appointed himself a “virtual member” of the IMT. For some time he praised the organization to the skies. Indeed, his praise was so lavish and exaggerated it was embarrassing. Now he finds himself outside, he has gone to the opposite extreme. It is hard to say which was worse, his praise or his calumnies!

Incidentally, according to his own version, he was aware about the so-called “gang rape” 18 months ago, yet he only began to shout about it when he was taken off the membership lists. This poses the question:

What kind of a man is it who, being supposedly aware that the leaders of the organization have committed a heinous crime, not only remained silent on the subject, but continued to sing the praises of the organization and its leaders on every conceivable occasion? Either he is a dishonest hypocrite who is complicit in a crime, or a brazen liar who has invented a non-existent incident for the purpose of blackening the name of the organization he used to belong to, because it has parted company with him. In fact, the latter is the case.

All these dubious elements were approached by our enemies, namely by Sajjad Mehdi, a crony of Manzoor Ahmed, based in Islamabad. He had a meeting with them in Hyderabad where they hatched a plan to sabotage the IMT. We have answered them in successful aggregates in Karachi, Hyderabad, Dadu, Mirpur Khas, etc.
8) PPP involvement

Our achievements in building the revolutionary movement are well known to our friends and enemies alike. They are being made at a time when labour movement in Pakistan is at a low ebb. It is not an easy task to attract people towards Marxist ideas when they feel betrayed by their leaders and are in no mood to fight. Comrades have to run after each and every worker continuously.
The successes of the Marxist Tendency have created problem for Manzoor Ahmed and his cronies, along with the leadership of the PPP. Please keep in mind that ex-comrade Chaudhary Manzoor is in charge of Peoples Labour Bureau nationally – that is to say, he is in charge of selling the line of Zardari and the right wing PPP leaders to the workers, above all Privatization.
Even before he came to power, Zardari knew that he would be carrying out the dirty work of the ruling class and imperialism. He knew he would face bitter opposition from the workers to privatization and other anti-working class policies. He knew he would face a revolt in the ranks of the PPP. How could he permit the existence of a powerful Marxist Tendency in the Party?
The PPP is under the pressure of the IMF and World Bank to carry out a big scale privatization, and they are using M.A. to control the labour movement. However, there is a resistance in the rank and file workers and the ruling class is afraid that it might erupt somewhere.
In 2011 the strike in PIA is a good example, where workers went on a strike and demanded end of privatization. Manzoor was appointed by Zardari for negotiations with workers. However, he failed miserably and the workers won the battle. Please note that CBA in PIA is the Peoples Unity, which is affiliated to the PPP through the Peoples Labour Bureau.
Zardari has always appointed his cronies as president of the People’s Unity rather than the workers of PIA. M.A. tried to buy workers of the People’s Unity and ended up with dividing the Peoples Unity in two groups. However, a majority of workers remained loyal to the strike which ended in victory. The PTUDC played a key role in all this, as a result of which the central vice president of the Peoples Unity, comrade Shoaib, is now a member of our organization and will attend congress 2012.()
At a time when the PPP government wants to go for aggressive privatization () they fear a backlash. But from whom they fear? The trade union leaders can be bought easily, though they may be a little reluctant due to pressure from below, but eventually they are for sale.
It is from the IMT in Pakistan they feel a real threat. To counter this threat they have made serious plans. A plush office near Islamabad has been made available for this conspiracy. That is where Atif, Sajjad Mehdi along with other employees of the bureaucracy with fat salaries are working under the leadership of Manzoor Ahmed.
9) ISI involvement

These tactics are very well known in Pakistan. They are the same tactics that have always been used by the Pakistan Intelligence Services (ISI) to combat leftist organizations. And we know that the right wing Zardari clique has close contacts with the ISI who we are in no doubt the real authors of this strategy. These attacks have got the fingerprints of the ISI all over them.
Why should the ISI be concerned? The ISI (Pakistan Military Intelligence) is conscious that there is a growing threat from the Marxists, especially due to our work in Malakand and Waziristan (the tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan). We have recently won 50 new comrades in Swat. This area was the ground for a fake war between Pakistan Army and Taliban.
Two years back Taliban were ruling Swat and were mercilessly killing common people. We have won these people due to our positions against the Taliban, the Pakstan Army and US Imperialism: all three. But it is important to note that comrades working there had to put their lives at risk by putting these positions. Their lives are still at risk.

Pakistan Army is establishing a cantonment in Swat, while the Taliban are trying to stage a comeback. In this situation big growth of IMT in this area is alarming to the ISI.
Similarly we are organizing the labour movement in Bannu, an important city near North Waziristan, Osama bin Laden stayed in suburbs of Bannu for a long time. In this city which was constantly under curfew and where mobile phone service was banned for many years, and where a blast occurred every other day, we held May Day activity and other labour union gatherings, when nobody else dared.
In Wana, South Waziristan comrade Ali Wazir is a popular communist. Actually, when he contested general elections in 2008 he was among more than a dozen candidates. He is the only one who is alive now.
Our advances in Afghanistan are also a big step forward. We will give details of that work to comrade A.W when he visits Pakistan.
This is why that our enemies are being funded heavily only for one purpose: to sabotage the IMT in Pakistan.
You doubt this? But it is not really so surprising. In the so-called “western democracies” the state and its intelligence agencies pays close attention to the Labour Movement and to all Leftist organizations. It is public knowledge that MI5 had at least 30 agents inside Militant in Britain. In the 1950s the FBI had many more agents inside the American Communist Party. And more recently it was exposed that the British police had an agent infiltrated in a Green activist group for seven years.
If such methods are used by the intelligence services in “western democracies”, can there be any doubt whatsoever that the agencies of the Pakistan state would use even more blatant methods to infiltrate and destroy a large and influential Marxist organization? As for Zardari and the PPP right wing, their motivation is quite clear.
We will not be defeated by dirty methods!
To be a Marxist in Pakistan is no easy task. We are involved, not in Facebook politics, but struggling in real life revolutionary work in extremely difficult and dangerous conditions. On a daily basis we face beatings, arrest, torture and murder, as well as incredible poverty, bad housing and all the other ills suffered by the masses in our sorry country. Despite all the difficulties we have succeeded in winning a significant layer of the most advanced workers and youth to the banner of revolutionary Marxism.
This is not a children’s game. Our comrades face repression and danger every day: from the bosses, who assassinated our leading trade union comrade Arif Shah, from the state, from the fascist MQM who put a bullet in the body of comrade Riaz Lund, from the Taliban who issue death threats every day to our comrades in Waziristan, and from the hired goons of Zardari and the right wing leaders of the PPP.

People in the West may not be fully aware of the extent of filth, deceit and treachery in politics in Pakistan. There are innumerable Facebook and internet organizations claiming thousands of members whose only aim is to use scandals for the purpose of blackmail and extortion.

It has to be stated clearly that the source of the present campaign of slanders has to be identified in our enemies within the state apparatus, the PPP, particularly the deserter Manzoor Ahmed whose aim is to destroy our Pakistani section on behalf of the PPP top brass.

The successes of the Pakistan Marxists are well known – not only to our friends but also to our enemies. The latter have now joined in an unholy alliance in an attempt to destroy us. Should we be surprised that these elements attack the Marxists and use every conceivable dirty method to blacken our name and sabotage our revolutionary work? No, we are not surprised at all.

To attack the Marxists is the role of our class enemies. Manzoor Ahmed and his clique has no paper, no organization, no subs etc. But it has access to unlimited financial resources. It it is acting as a special cell of the ISI to counter the IMT. We expect much more brutal attacks from this source, including physical attacks from them in future. Already Manzoor has been responsible for getting the police to beat up and arrest our comrades.

We expect this kind of thing, and we know how to combat it. But what are we to say about self-styled “Leftists” in London and Stockholm who spend all their time pouring dirt over the Marxist tendency and spreading and magnifying the lies and slanders manufactured by the bourgeois state and its hired mercenaries?

It has come to our attention that certain former members of the IMT have been deliberately spreading dirt against the IMT and the Pakistani comrades internationally. Using the hypocritical pretence of “informing members of the IMT of what has been going on”, they are, in fact, actively participating in a dirty campaign of disinformation that has been hatched in Islamabad by the renegade ex-Leftist Manzoor Ahmed.
People who leave the Marxist Tendency who have no principled agreement on anything, form a bloc to throw filth at the organization to which they used to belong in the hope that a little will stick. Lacking any trace of principles or anything resembling a theoretical level, they are compelled to sink to the level of the sewer, where they can swim quite happily in their natural element.
These “Facebook heroes” are really insignificant people who are incapable of building anything, but are quite expert in destroying what others have built. These individuals represent nothing and nobody themselves. They would be not worth mentioning, were it not for the fact that they have become a faithful echo of the most reactionary wing of the PPP leadership, that wing, represented by Manzoor Ahmed who has stabbed the workers in the back and are pushing Zardari’s privatization plans.
It is important that everybody knows the real source of these attacks, who is behind them and what ends they are pursuing. But these attacks will never succeed. Our firmness in defence of our Marxist ideas, our unflinching dedication to the cause of revolutionary socialism is stronger than ever. The attacks of our enemies only serve to make it even stronger.

This is not the first smear campaign against us, nor will it be the last. We condemn all these baseless allegations and appeal to our comrades in other sections to have complete faith in the comrades of the Pakistani section who are risking not only their lives but also of their families for a socialist victory in Pakistan and South Asia.

We protest indignantly against these vicious attacks and slanders, and emphatically condemn those who are continually putting false rumours in circulation for their own sectarian and splitting purposes.

No more lies!
No more provocations!
Defend the Pakistan Marxists!
Irreconcilable struggle till Socialism!
Lahore, 20 Feb. 2012
Postscript
In order to put the record straight we have made this statement. We undertook this distasteful task without enthusiasm. We are sure that any honest worker in Europe will be clear as to what this is all about. In Pakistan it was clear long ago.
As for our enemies, we are under no illusions that will try to continue their attacks and provocations against the Marxist Tendency. But we have no intention of responding to any further lies and slanders. We refuse to waste a single moment more on this disgusting trivia.
Carry on with your calumnies, gentlemen! As far as we are concerned, they will henceforth be met with silence and the contempt they deserve. We have no time to waste in futile wrangling with sectarians. We have urgent work to do building the revolutionary movement in Pakistan and the rest of the Subcontinent."

The mode of response from the IMT is that of a Cult and the reply is clearly the handiwork of Alan Woods and the international leadership of the IMT. It was not written in Lahore but in London.

The basic method is to claim that the circulation of ‘gang rape’ allegations by recently expelled comrades of the IMT in Pakistan is a plot orchestrated by the Pakistani state because the IMT are reaching such a pinnacle of influence that they had to be stopped. Apparently anyone who criticises the way the IMT operates is in the pay of someone. Zardari, ISI, CIA or Emmanuel Goldstein.

In addition, anyone outside of Pakistan who criticises the IMT's Pakistani leadership for their drunken outrages is living a cosy-life unable to comprehend the incredible hardships in Pakistan, this is like the line Oxfam takes when getting you to give money by showing a crying emaciated child.

When Alan Woods and his cult make claims against others these are of course 'fact'!. For example, at the International Executive Committee of the IMT in March 2010 Lal Khan claimed that Heiko Khoo had killed a Pakistani comrade. And Alan Woods claimed that Razi (leader of the IMT's Iranian section at the time) was an agent of the Iranian state.
(see karlmarx.net)
Comrade Woods does not appear to know how to distinguish between assertion and evidence.

The claim that Manzoor is in the pay of Zardari is a similarly stupid assertion made on the basis that Pakistan is corrupt, therefore Manzoor is corrupt, if the IMT says so. After more than 3 years of claiming Manzoor is a corrupt agent of the Pakistani state not one single shred of evidence has ever been presented to back this up!

Instead Woods insinuates that because Pakistan is a corrupt society and Zardari is corrupt therefore Manzoor must be corrupt! The small fact that Venezuela is just as corrupt as Pakistan seems to elude the awareness of our hero, Alan Woods.

Now to the refutation of the claims.

Mr Woods, Grand Defender of the struggle of the oppressed women of Pakistan claims that: "I have in my possession three signed statement saying it did not happen"

Now what awareness does this show of Pakistani reality? Or even of the original statements?

In the original statement (see karlmarx.net) they are explicit that there was a campaign by the leadership to cover up the event. It is stated that the‘incident’ was mentioned by comrade Amjad Laakhair at the meeting the next day. Clearly the audio recordings of the meeting can confirm or refute this. But did comrade Woods ask for a copy of the recordings? No! Did he ask anyone outside of the leadership what happened? Did he write to the comrades making the accusations? Hear their views? Ask for their statements? No! Even though Xulfi and Zafar are supposed to be able to appeal to the World Congress against their expulsion and therefore are capable of discussing this issues with the leadership of the IMT. The IMT leaders never even attempted to discuss with these comrades or hear their claims.

The attempt to link in Manzoor with the issue and claim western collaborators of Tanit are conspiring to bring down the IMT is laughable. Both Zafar Imam and Xulfi Marxist are loyalists of the IMT who supported and actively participated in Manzoor’s expulsion and defended the IMT against TANIT and the Revolutionary Struggle group. Xulfi remains particularly hostile towards myself even now.

So what does the defence by the IMT's great leader Alan Woods consist of? Even though pretending to be the leader of the Pakistani section of the IMT, Lal Khan.

It is that Lal Khan has told me that it not true. And if he has coerced a couple of people to write "statements" backing this up all the better, as this should should calm any disquiet in the ranks of the IMT. In fact Woods thinks that if he writes a tirade about being under sustained attack from the international capitalist secret services (by email) this should even act as a new test of loyalty for IMT comrades, who can ignore the gaps in his defence. Indeed for any IMT comrade to ask any further questions will certainly place that comrade under suspicion of collaboration with Goldstein.

Oh and if there was anyone bothered about what happened (but didn't happen at all actually!) then they should have raised the issue before now. This is really too late, we have a world revolution to lead!

On leftist spotters someone pointed to the following

> but the dosier talked of Amjad Lakheer: "Finally, the "report" talks of Amjad
Lakheer mentioning the so-called gang rape the day after in the plenary session.
This is also false. In fact, this comrade was not even present in that school.
We have a signed statement by him confirming this."
>
> Cesc


The IMT dossier, does claim to have a number of statements all of which are
supposed to confirm that nothing ever happened and that it is all the invention
of Xulfi Marxist.

Xulfi and others claim to have made these allegations over a long period inside
the IMT and were very reluctant to reveal these allegations to non IMT members
until recently.

Comrades like Manzoor from Revolutionary Struggle played no role whatsoever in
publicising these issues. In fact Zafar Imam and Xulfi were people who
campaigned against Manzoor and were very much in favour of his explulsion from
the IMT in 2008.

As to whether Amjad Lakheer was at the school or not should be verifiable by
audio recordings of the meeting, if such exist.

I have seen other IMT comrades from Pakistan confirm statements by Xulfi and
Zafar as to the incident. You can check on his facebook page and communicate
with him to confirm.
facebook.com!/xaphor.emam

Xulfi claimed that the rape was almost universally known about in the
IMT's Karachi school, either this is fact or false. What method was
used to verify this? Was Xulfi asked? Zafar? Or anyone else who made the
allegations? If someone makes allegations of such a nature surely they should be
asked for their evidence? As they were only recently expelled and apparently for
'non payment of subs' why could the IMT leadership not ask them?

Instead of this precisely the people accused of the crimes (leading members of
the Pakistani section of the IMT) were the people who were made responsible to
refute the charges.

What method did they use to investigate? Cross questioning independent control
commission? Outside investigation? No we are told that there never was anything
to investigate.

Yet I have received email correspondence from two US members of the IMT claiming
that

1. the matter was investigated some time ago. Darick Engel alias Leon T on
revleft Where he said the "The leadership of the IMT were
and have been all over this since the allegations were made, and made several
trips to Pakistan to see for themselves." Oh but I thought they only just found
out about this entirely invented charge?

2. I was informed by a National Committee member of the US section of the IMT
that they had a comrade in Pakistan investigating the issues two weeks ago. But
what is there to investigate if nothing ever happened?

The IMT statement tries to slander anyone and everyone who is not a
loyal defender of the "this is an ISI plot" line, Xulfi and Rashid
can't be believed because "they are declassed elements" Dr Harish
can't be believed because he works in a mental hospital, so by
implication is also mad.

"I have seen other IMT comrades from Pakistan confirm statements by Xulfi and
Zafar as to the incident. You can check on his facebook page and communicate
with him to confirm.
facebook.com!/xaphor.emam"

Anyone who checks this FB page will realise that this is the FB profile of .... Zafar Imam! The person who authored the document containing the allegations of gang rape. You say "other comrades from Pakistan".

After the IMT dossier destroyed all of the so-called witnesses of the gang-rape, now, Jonathan Clyne, main leader and bank-roller of TANIT is caught lying about another, related, incident that happened 25 years ago, see "Reply to Jonathan Clyne by former CWI control commission member" on karlmarx.net website, and Jonathan has to admit that he was telling porkies and thought he would not be caught: "Reply to Brigitte (from Jonathan Clyne)" on the same karlmarx.net site

I mean, seriously!

I have to say that this is not a serious response.

We have two very different versions as to what went down, and at this moment, to my surprise I must say, the CWI version is sounding more credible that that of the accusers, with solider evidence and eyewitness statements backing it up.

The Karlmarx.net response to the CWI statement seems to be largely made up of distracting irrelevancies.

This really does need investigation by outsiders, neither CWI nor TANIT, to find the truth of the matter, given the extreme seriousness of the allegations. But at this point, just judging by the postings here on Revleft, I'd have to say that the accusations are looking questionable.

-M.H.-