A school, a press conference and by bus to Lahore

Thursday 2 December
Up early to visit Raja Wajid’s school. Rana Wajid is a philanthropist, well off with time on his hands. It’s literally his school; he owns it, the Webster Grammar School, a franchise. Lots of bright coloured paint but, as far as equipment, is concerned all very spartan. Thirty middle class pupils, aged 4 - 10, with five teachers and a head, all women, in a large house. Over a cup of tea in the head’s office, I'm asked to give tips which I politely try to avoid. Public education is a scandal. It gets 2% of GDP , much of which is wasted or stolen. Not surprising when the military gets 40% of the state budget and, international debt repayment not much less.

Day Two of the textile workers course starts with how to get unity between men and women, a real discussion which the women in particular appreciate. At lunch time, we dash to a press conference, four or five journalists coming to talk about the jailing of the four workers after the July protest over wages – they demanded 17% and got 13% - inflation is now over 15%. The charges include “terrorism”, a measure of the ability of employers to bribe the police and get false charges laid. There’s also Chaudhry Tahir, LQM secretary from Jhang, a nearby city, who faces fake charges of attempted murder, theft and more. Against this the union has only its numbers but the experience is that when you get enough people properly organised, you can beat this kind of bullying. Chaudhry is proposing a long march from Jhang to Lahore, 130 miles, to the house of Shahbaz Sharif, chief minister of the Punjab, brother of Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister, and organise a hunger strike outside it. It sounds over the top but the brothers need votes and are full of populist rhetoric at the moment.

After that back to finish course and, together with Tariq, take the Daewoo bus back to Lahore, very comfortable - there’s a stewardess on the coach - and very punctual. Security is tight, our bags are checked before we get on the bus and once we are seated, each of us has our photo taken.