Paper short abstract:

Focusing on the late 1960s, this paper looks at how industrial workers in Lahore took control of places in the city by setting up an alternative system of rule, against the backdrop of a movement that was ostensibly asking for nothing more than the reinstitution of parliamentary democracy.

Paper long abstract:

The late 1960s were a unique moment in Pakistan's history as it saw the emergence of a popular movement that brought an end to the regime of General Muhammad Ayub Khan and ushered in the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). However, it would be erroneous to consider the dynamics engendered by this movement as fitting neatly within the narrative of the development of the PPP. As extant structures of authority were challenged during the movement, local level actors in certain spaces took control of their places of work and of their neighbourhoods by setting up alternative, miniature systems of rule. Centering around two such examples from Lahore this paper will focus on the brief creation of a worker led panchayat in the industrial area of Kot Lakhpat and the take-over of the industrial complex in Kala Shah Kaku by the workers of Ravi Rayon. Far from being part of the narrative of the "strength of the street" that went out of hand (which was the jusitification used by the founder of the PPP, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, for repressing worker movements in the 1970s), this paper aims to reveal how these moments were the actualisation of a political alternative that was negated by the PPP when it came to power. The case studies are based on evidence gathered from interviews with participants as well as correspondence and newspaper reports.