Bhutto says that he prefers the present regime in Pakistan to that of Ayub Khan; he also says that he is convinced that General Yahya "is sincere" and did not want to take power. He might try telling that to the increasing number of people being arrested in Pakistan for merely opposing the coup.
British socialists have an especial duty in relation to the situation in Pakistan; this country was a product of British imperialism in its desire to thwart the movement of the peoples of the Indian sub-continent towards national liberation. It is clear from all available evidence that the new regime will function, just as did the Ayub one, to a large extent as protector of British investment in that country.
The FINANCIAL TIMES of March 26th reported: "Representatives of a large number of British companies operating in Pakistan have been 'gheraoed,' or placed under seige by their workers during the past months and forced to agree to wage increases averaging 15 per cent for their lowest-paid workers....It is understood, however, that the businessmen placed under seige were at no time in serious personal danger and few have even considered moving their families out of Pakistan since the beginning of the current crisis....Reactions to the seige tactics appears to have ranged from the subsequent abrogation of wage rise agreements on the grounds that they were extracted under duress to the filing of formal complaints with the Pakistan Government. Certain companies have managed [to] evade long-term commitments to their workers by the acceptance only of 'ad hoc interim relief' arrangements while others are planning to offset the newly granted increases against the next round of formally negotiated wage increases. In the meantime there is no sign that the political crisis has so far forced the withdrawal of any major British investment projects in Pakistan...."The total value of Britain's industrial and agricultural investment in Pakistan is believed to be between £240-£250 million, with the oil and gas industries leading the field and tea estates running a close second.... "The capital value of the British tea estates, which produce rather more than half of Pakistan's annual tea crop of something over [illegible] million lbs. a year, is currently estimated at between £10-£15 million. "British manufacturing investment has been moving into Pakistan at the rate of about £2 million a year during the past five years, and would normally be expected to continue at this rate until the 1970s."
Whilst it appears that the new regime has managed to regain control over large parts of West Pakistan, at the time of writing the situation is not so clear in East Pakistan. In fact it seems unlikely that General Yahya will be able to regain complete control over that province without large-scale repression. We can expect Yahya's threats of whippings and ruthless suppression of opposition to be carried out.
We have a double duty in this country: firstly to help to create a defence organisation to Pakistani victims of repression; and secondly to do all we can to help Pakistani revolutionaries to lay the basis of a revolutionary organisation, which in the present situation could play a decisive part in projecting the Pakistan revolution along a socialist path.