[Book] Pakistan's Other Story: The Revolution of 1968-69

The Pakistan Revolution of 1968-69 was one of the greatest revolutionary movements of the 20th century. It is rich in lessons and Lal Khan's book is an outstanding summing up of these lessons. It deserves most careful study by every revolutionary.

The publication of a book by Lal Khan on the Pakistan revolution of 1968-69, Pakistan's Other Story, is a most important addition to the theoretical arsenal of international Marxism.

The situation in 1968 in Pakistan had "got out of hand" from the bourgeois point of view. The government had lost its nerve; the ruling clique was suspended in mid-air; the police force was demoralised and sections of the populace had set about the transformation of society. All the element s of a classical revolutionary situation were present, except one: the revolutionary leadership...

The Pakistan Revolution of 1968-69 was one of the greatest revolutionary movements of the 20th century. It is rich in lessons and Lal Khan's book is an outstanding summing up of these lessons. It deserves most careful study by every revolutionary.

  1. Introduction (by Alan Woods)

  2. A Revolutionary Epoch – A Revolutionary Ferment across the Planet

    • Egypt
    • Indonesia
    • Impact of revolution on advanced countries
    • France, May 1968 - the greatest revolutionary general strike in history
    • Peaceful transformation of society
    • Revolutionary ferment in Europe
    • The Italian “Hot Autumn”
    • Ireland
    • Mexico
    • Czechoslovakia
    • The USA, the Vietnam War and radicalisation
    • Developments elsewhere
    • The impact on the former colonial countries
    • Conclusions

  3. Bloody Partition of the Subcontinent – Birth pangs of Pakistan

    • Resistance and Betrayals
    • The Communist Party
    • Degeneration of the Left leadership
    • Defiance and Revolution
    • After the Revolt
    • The Cabinet Mission Plan
    • Slaughter of the innocents (The aftermath of Partition)

  4. A Failed Start – the Failure of Bourgeois Democracy

    • Military rule and the gathering Storm
    • Crisis of Identity
    • Kashmir
    • Jinnah
    • The 1954 Election
    • Shaking hands with Uncle Sam
    • The Communist Party in W. Pakistan
    • 1958
    • Under Military Rule
    • Nasser
    • McArthur
    • Ayub Khan
    • Domestic and Economic Policy
    • The New Industrialists
    • Interests of Capitalism comes before the Interests of the People
    • Corruption and Oppression
    • Let's have a War
    • Revolution

  5. The Mass Revolt! – When Socialist Victory was on the agenda

    • First stirrings of the Revolution
    • The Masses Arise
    • Spark of the students rebellion
    • 1967 Railways Strike-a prelude to the revolution
    • Unleashing of the stormy events
    • The Peasant Revolt
    • Struggle of Left Journalists
    • Ferment in the Army

  6. Witness to Revolution – Veterans of the 1968-69 upheaval

    • Usman Baloch (Karachi)
    • Dr. Mubashar Hasan (Lahore)
    • Zakir Hussain (Malakand)
    • Munnoo Bhai (Rawalpindi)
    • Mairaj Muhammad Khan (Karachi)
    • Pervaiz Malik (Campbellpur now Attock)
    • Manzoor Razi (Karachi)
    • Prof. Mohd. Yahya (Dera Ismail Khan)
    • Shahid Mahmood Nadeem (Lahore)
    • Jam Saqi (Hyderabad)
    • Khawar Naeem Hashmi (Lahore)
    • Kaniz Fatima (Karachi)
    • Ilyas Khan (Multan)
    • Karamat Ali (Karachi)

  7. War and Reformism – Lessons of a Derailed Revolution

    • The Regime of Yahya Khan
    • The PPP and Jamat-i-Islami
    • War
    • Exit Yahya Khan, enter Bhutto
    • Confrontation
    • Analysis

  8. Crisis of the Left Leadership – Rise of the Pakistan People's Party

    • Stalinism and Maoism
    • Lenin and Trotsky
    • The Bourgeoisie and the Bureaucracy
    • Students
    • China and Pakistan
    • Left disarray
    • Populism and Bhutto
    • The Founding of the PPP
    • Ideological Confusion
    • Bhutto's Arrest and the left-right struggle
    • Attempts at Grass-Roots Organization
    • Suppression of The Left
    • The Elite Bourgeoisie take Control
    • Baluchistan
    • Conclusion

  9. Dictatorship and Democracy – Regimes Changed, the Masses Continue to Suffer

    • General Zia's dictatorship
    • The MRD and Sindh
    • Afghanistan
    • Benazir Bhutto
    • Exit Benazir
    • The Oligarchy
    • The Return of Benazir
    • The assassination of Murtaza Bhutto
    • Nawaz Sharif
    • The Kargill War
    • Musharraf
    • The Lawyers' movement
    • The Assassination of Benazir
    • The PPP/ right-wing coalition
    • Zardari and economic corruption

  10. Redeeming the 1968-69 Uprising – Perspectives of Revolutionary Socialism

    • Combined and Uneven Development
    • The Changing role of the Mullahs
    • Rhe Role of Parliament
    • Aims of Socialism
    • Stalinism
    • The State
    • Foreign Aggression
    • Internationalism
    • The Situation Today
    • Riaz Lund
    • The Struggle for a Socialist Future

  11. Appendices

    • The role of Pakistan Army
    • Pakistan’s Richest List of 2007
    • PPP Manifesto 1970 (Salient Features)

  12. Bibliography

  13. About the Author

  14. Other Works by the Author