MATIONAL Fourth Internation ISTS In the offices of the Urdu daily newspaper, Jano. me neen strikina workers are stil in control. But what would constitute a victory? FoC Yehia Syed is in no doubt: We are trying to set up a workers cooperative.
The workers are convinced that if they can car zu uve whic wole suaranter publication for a year, they would be able to make the paper work. They claim that their union, SOGAT, and other unions have offered to help. Appeals have also been made to the Department of Employment Direct appeals to Pakistani businessmer have so far not met with any substantial - which is hardly surprising, businessmen of whatever colour or nation ality do not look kindly on factory occupa ers, which could well turn out to be fatal.
Let us expand this point somewhat. vane is an utou woro meanine war ane ine papers of boss Mir Khalilur Rehman in both Pakistan and Britain have certainly waste a wal drainst ine working class. En daily Jang in Britain supported the establishment in Pakistan and in Britain. That is their basic policy: support those ir Dower T tomorrow Thatcher replaced Callaghan, her profile would adorn the extent by worKers That is why thev direct thei appeals to the monied Asians and not to the mass of Asian workers. Essentially a paper tor mist ceneration immierants. dang failed to identify with the aspirations of the WEEKLY Asian youth. It treated the police a 'neutral', it waged no campaign against Its staff saw themselves as the Molan couvalent or a saver ike me tere graph Thus in the four-page broadsheet put out by the workers after the occupation, the hirst page explains ineir sinke, the natur of SOGAT, etc. - in other words, good trade union material. The next two pages are run or te most reactionary, rengious mibbey come ting of ted ins mainly consisting reproductions the strike from the Morning Star, News Line, Socialist Worke Guardian. The inability of the journalists to see that you cannot isolate these pages from each other in practice explains in a nutshell the key problem they confront If they had produced a liberated Jang reporting on the conditions of politica prisoners at home supportme une ant racist struggles in Britain, citing numerous instances of police brutality and government callousness, would certainly have offended the Establishment But a the same time could have themselves a real base in the Asian com munity and tus encouraged a campaign to raise money for the paper - by no means While Red Weekly continues to support Inel struggle against Renman and his local cohorts, we feel honor bad t point out some of the weaknesses of the struggle. Naturally IT any of tne workers o Bro. Syed wishes to respond, our pages will be open.
Asian Youth Organisation militants at Saturday's Blackburn meeting