Aasim Sajjad Akhtar

Aasim Sajjad Akhtar is a teacher, left wing politician and columnist based in Pakistan. Akhtar is associate professor[1] of political economy at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. He served as the president of the Awami Workers Party's Punjab executive committee from March 16, 2014[2][3] to January 17, 2020.[4]

Aasim Sajjad Akhtar
عاصم سجاد اختر
NationalityPakistani
Alma materSOAS, University of London
Yale University
Northwestern University
OccupationAssociate Professor at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Known forFormer President, Awami Workers Party Punjab

Early life and education

Akhtar did his bachelor of Arts in Economics with Honours in 1997 from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.[5] He got his master's degree in economics in 1999 from Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.[6][7] Akhtar completed his PhD in political sociology in 2008 from SOAS, University of London at the South Asia Institute, where his thesis was titled The Overdeveloping State: The Politics of Common Sense in Pakistan, 1971-2007.[8]

Career

Akhtar is serving as associate professor of political economy at Quaid-i-Azam University's National Institute of Pakistan Studies,[9][10] and has previously taught at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.[11][12][13] His research focuses on colonial theory and history, state theory, sociology, imperialism, comparative politics, political economy, rise of the middle classes, South Asian politics, identity formation, informal economy and social movements in Pakistan.[9] Akhtar is Honorary Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), a research institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS).[14]

Political struggle

People's Rights Movement (PRM)

Akhtar was a coordinator of the People's Rights Movement (PRM)[15][16][17][18] from 2002 to 2012; PRM was a left-wing confederation of working-class movements in Pakistan.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25]

As a representative of PRM, Akhtar was a strong supporter of Okara's peasant movement and Anjuman Mazarin Punjab, (AMP).[26][27][28][29][30]

He organised rallies under the banner of PRM along with members of different trade unions against anti-worker policies and privatization[31] of public utilities.[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]

In November 2007, he was arrested in Lahore with seventy other civil society activists for participating in an anti-government meeting held at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan during the Pakistani state of emergency, 2007.[42][43][44][45][46][47]

In February 2010, PRM merged with the National Workers Party and the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party to form the Workers Party Pakistan.[48][49][50]

Workers Party Pakistan

Akhtar was associated with Workers Party Pakistan (WPP) from February 2010 to November 2012.[51][52][53][54][55][56][57]

All-Pakistan Alliance for Katchi Abadis

Akhtar served as chairman[58] of the All-Pakistan Alliance for Katchi Abadis (informal settlements or slums) which was an association of slum-dwellers from across Pakistan, formed in 1999[59] to protect the rights of the millions of slum residents across the country, against forced evictions and homelessness and to speak for the need for low-income housing in Pakistan.[60][61][62][63][64][65] In 2001, under Pervez Musharraf's era according to the Katchi Abadi Policy 2001, kachi abadis were given orders to provide urban squatters security through re-settlement and regularization.[66] Despite this policy, forced evictions of residents from katchi abadis continued which led to protests and demonstrations by the All Pakistan Katchi Abadi Alliance.[67] In 2002, residents of four abadis were allotted plots in Alipur Farash under ‘Modern Shelter Urban Programme’, according to which out of the total 41 Katchi Abadis of the capital, only 11 have been recognized by the CDA, the rest were to be demolished without providing alternative shelter for the residents.[68] Despite having pledged to transform Alipur Farash into a “model town” for the working class, the CDA failed to provide even basic amenities for its residents, development has remained incomplete for years. Female members of All Pakistan Katchi Abadi Alliance from Alipur Farash protested many times for provision of basic facilities.[69][70][71][72]

Awami Workers Party

Akhtar is among the founders of Awami Workers Party. On November 11, 2012, the Workers Party Pakistan merged with two other left-wing parties, Awami Party and Labour Party to form the Awami Workers Party.[73][74] He was member of the first federel committee, later on December 16, 2012, he was elected as general secretary of AWP Punjab.[75][76][77][78][79] On March 16, 2014, Akhtar was elected as President of AWP Punjab in AWP Punjab Congress held in Lahore.[80] While serving as the president of AWP Punjab he took part actively in organising the slum dwellers of the capital territory of Islamabad against forced evictions and moved a petition against Capital Development Authority (CDA) to stop evictions from slums.[81][82][83][84][85][86]

In 2014, hundreds of kachi abadis' residents along with All-Pakistan Alliance for Katchi Abadis, held protests against the Capital Development Authority's (CDA) plans to bulldoze katchi abadis in Islamabad.[87][88][89] On July 30, 2015, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) along with rangers, police and local administration demolished dozens of houses in informal settlement of I-11/1,Islamabad which were built 30 years ago.[90] On August 2, 2015, to stop these forced evictions and to find ways for urban housing crisis in informal settlements of I-11/1, Akhtar along with residents from Kachi Abadis, filed a petition in the Supreme Court for the case on the right to housing.[91] The petition requested that the court declare the residents of katchi abadis of the capital territory entitled to the benefits conferred under Articles 9, 10A and 25 of the Constitution[92][93] and the state is bound to provide the residents of katchi abadis shelter and other amenities as per the Constitution and the National Housing Policy 2001. On August 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the federal government and other departments to stop further demolishing of houses in katchi abadi I-11, Islamabad.[94][95]

As member of AWP, Akhtar always raised his voice against any kind of injustices anywhere in the country through seminars and protests, be it killing of peace activists like Sabeen Mahmud[96][97] and Mashal Khan,[98][99][100] attack on minorities,[101] price hike,[102] or non-coverage of progressive vioces on media.[103] Akhtar believes in the power of community dialogues on pressing issues, to understand and find their possible solutions so he took part with other AWP members in organising political schools and dialogues.[104][105][106]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Akhtar along with other members of AWP, led the debate on Universal basic income.[107][108][109][110]

Akhtar is also leading a decade long weekly study circle on wide range of topics on economic, political and social issues to promote a culture of discussion, understanding and awareness among youth.

Publications and Articles

Akhtar writes a weekly column for the Dawn newspaper,[111][112] he also wrote in Monthly Review,[113][114][115] New Internationalist,[116] Tanqeed,[117] The Straits Times,[118] Deccan Chronicle,[119][120] Himal Southasian,[121] The Asian Age[122] and The High Asia Herald.[123] As a researcher and academic, he has published many research articles[124] in peer-reviewed journals such as Third World Quarterly,[125] Critical Asian Studies,[126][127] The Journal of Peasant Studies[128] and the Journal of Contemporary Asia.[129][130][131] He is also contributing editor with the journal Socialism and Democracy.[132][133] He has co-authored two books,[134][135] while his latest published book is "The Politics of Common Sense" which describes the evolution of structure of power in Pakistan over the past four decades.[136][137][138]

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  125. Akhtar, Aasim Sajjad; Ahmad, Ali Nobil (2 January 2015). "Conspiracy and statecraft in postcolonial states: theories and realities of the hidden hand in Pakistan's war on terror". Third World Quarterly. 36 (1): 94–110. doi:10.1080/01436597.2015.976022. ISSN 0143-6597.
  126. "2019.23: Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, When a Movement Stops Moving: The Okara Peasant Struggle Twenty Years On". CAS.
  127. Akhtar, Aasim Sajjad (1 June 2011). "Patronage and Class in Urban Pakistan". Critical Asian Studies. 43 (2): 159–184. doi:10.1080/14672715.2011.570565. ISSN 1467-2715.
  128. Akhtar, Aasim Sajjad (1 July 2006). "The state as landlord in Pakistani Punjab: Peasant struggles on the Okara military farms". The Journal of Peasant Studies. 33 (3): 479–501. doi:10.1080/03066150601063058. ISSN 0306-6150.
  129. Akhtar, Aasim Sajjad (1 February 2010). "Pakistan: Crisis of a Frontline State". Journal of Contemporary Asia. 40 (1): 105–122. doi:10.1080/00472330903270742. ISSN 0047-2336.
  130. Akhtar, Aasim Sajjad (1 October 2016). "Dreams of a Secular Republic: Elite Alienation in Post-Zia Pakistan". Journal of Contemporary Asia. 46 (4): 641–658. doi:10.1080/00472336.2016.1193214. ISSN 0047-2336.
  131. Akhtar, Aasim Sajjad (31 August 2020). "The War of Terror in Praetorian Pakistan: The Emergence and Struggle of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement". Journal of Contemporary Asia. 0 (0): 1–14. doi:10.1080/00472336.2020.1809008. ISSN 0047-2336.
  132. "Editorial Board". Socialism and Democracy. 27 (3): (ebi)–(ebi). 1 November 2013. doi:10.1080/08854300.2013.861133. ISSN 0885-4300.
  133. Akhtar, Aasim Sajjad (1 March 2007). "The New Vanguard: Challenges for the Left in Asia and Africa". Socialism and Democracy. 21 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1080/08854300601116647. ISSN 0885-4300.
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  138. "Review Of Aasim Sajjad Akhtar's The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society And Culture In Pakistan". Youth Ki Awaaz, 18 July, 2018. 18 July 2018.
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