Progressive resistance movements and political parties issue a pledge to stand for peace from home to borders.
We, the resistance movements and political parties present in WDF’s Second Congress on “peace from home to borders” endorse the following resolutions of the Congress:
- We grieve and mourn today the human lives claimed in the imperialist war on the third world, particularly the 40 years’ war in our region; the lives taken in the patriarchal war on women and khawaja sira, particularly in the name of honour by our own families, lovers and partners; the silent deaths of women and children due to hunger, health poverty and patriarchy; the lives of children taken in land mines; the lives taken in the organized target killings of resistance voices; military operations by the state across the country; the lynching by the right wing; the lives claimed in the ethnic oppression of Bengalis, Baloch, Pashtuns, Sindhis and Hazaras and their enforced disappearances by the state; the lives of religious minorities and the lives of peasants taken by feudal lords to crush their resistance; the lives claimed in encounters and torture in custody by the police; and all the lives claimed through systemic femicides, genocides, and infanticides;
- We consider this oppression as a systematic war by the ruling civilian and military elite of Pakistan through the state on the working-class masses, oppressed nations, women and Khawaja sira, and people of persecuted religions and sects. We reaffirm our struggle against all forms of oppression and exploitation till liberation of the all the oppressed.
- (2) Acknowledge that the masses in Pakistan are in national struggles, class struggles, and feminist struggles; affirm that the national struggle must be won for the other struggles to advance; and reject the weaponization of “colonial feminism” to obscure the primary contradictions of colonialism and imperialism and distract from the patriarchal and sexual violence inherent in them.
- We stand in solidarity with all Khwaja Sira people in Pakistan and unequivocally condemn the dangerous and ignorant proposals made by the state to continue with patriarchal violence on them and denial of their equal rights and dignity;
- We demand an immediate end to the imperialist proxy war in our region as it has provided conditions for the overdevelopment of patriarchy, militarization, and radicalization of our state and society. The state and society both must be deradicalized through secularising and democratising the curricula and culture, and a complete stop to state patronage to proxy militants. End the war on oppressed nations, and end military operations and repressive policies;
- We demand the restoration of student unions across Pakistan, demilitarisation of academic institutions, freedom of academic thought and free education for all;
- Express solidarity with our Kurdish, Afghan, and Iranian sisters who are fighting against authoritarian regimes, for peace, sovereignty, and democracy. We express deep concern over the plight of women in war zones and the patriarchal authoritarianism inflicted upon women. A large number of women and girls have not only been displaced from their native homes but have also been evicted from public life, education, and jobs.
- Express deep concern over the escalation of war by Israel on Palestinians we condemn Israel’s colonial and expansionist policies leading to mass violations of Palestinian rights. We call for a just solution to the occupation of Palestine, ensuring the Palestinians’ unconditional right to self-determination and their land.
- We reject Pakistan as a colonial and US imperial outpost, standing against revolutions and resistance toward liberation, and reaffirming our struggle against all forms of imperialism.
- Reject the security states around the world, and in Pakistan. Reaffirm commitment to struggle for people’s democracy, establishment of an egalitarian society, and social justice.
- Condemn the ongoing political repression of nations, a complete stop to state oppression and national oppression of Baloch, Pashtun, Sindhi and Seraiki nations. We reaffirm our struggle for the constitution of a voluntary federation that guarantees the right to self-determination to all federating nations. We recognize the issue of organized settlement of non-Sindhis in Sindh. We reaffirm solidarity with our Baloch, Pashtun, and Sindhi sisters and brothers in their demand for peace, an end to enforced disappearances, and extra-judicial killings. We demand the signing of the international conventions on enforced disappearances.
- We also demand the signing of the Refugee Convention by Pakistan and changes in citizenship laws to allow citizenship to Afghan children born in Pakistan, and Afghan men and women married to Pakistani citizens. We demand the right to citizenship for Bengalis, Somalians and all others settled in Pakistan, especially children born in Pakistan.
- Reject feudalism, the gentrification of urban centres, real-estate projects and grabbing by military and civilian cartels and all forms of violence and evictions emanating from the unjust land relations. Reaffirm our demand for land reforms in Pakistan for just redistribution of agricultural and urban land and the right to housing. Reaffirm the struggle against neoliberal infrastructural projects and climate imperialism in defence of human lives, our rivers and lands, and habitat.
- Condemn the ongoing violence on religious minorities, the enforced conversion of religion and forced marriages with abductors. Reaffirm the struggle for secularization of the state and society.
- Demand a change in foreign policy. We demand a policy shift in Pakistan’s Afghan policy leading to the displacement and dispossession of Afghans. We support the constitution of an autonomous, secular, democratic and peaceful Afghanistan to enable Afghans to go back to their native homes. We demand friendly diplomatic and trade relations with all neighbours.
- Reaffirm the struggle for an end to the rentier state, an end to the financial imperialist basis of the economy, an end to the war economy, and reconstitution of a non-exploitative economy based on socialist principles, production, workers’ welfare and peace. We demand a cut in military expenditures and withdrawal of $17.4 subsidies to the civilian and military elite groups in Pakistan to free up money for peace, free education and health, and housing to all.
- We call upon all feminist, socialist, nationalist, and secular democratic forces in the country to unite around a minimum agenda for the liberation of the masses, women, oppressed nations, khawaja sira people, and the people of persecuted religions and sects.
Healing to the wounded
All wealth and power to the masses and oppressed nations
Aurat Azad – Samaj Azad
Long live resistance
Women, Oppressed Nations, and the Working Class will Define the Future of Pakistan
Decolonize, Demilitarize and Democratize
