Pakistani student activist to speak in Melbourne and Geelong
Alia Amiralia is a student activist in the National Student Association (Punjab), a member of the newly formed united left Awami Workers Party, as well as a
researcher on the Baloch National Movement and lecturer at Quaid-e-Azam University.
She will arrive in Melbourne on January 16 and will be a keynote speaker at the Socialist Alliance Conference in Geelong on Friday January 18 to Sunday January 20. Alia Amiralia will also be the main speaker at the Socialist Alliance public forum in Melbourne on January 21.
The common stereotypes about Pakistan in the media are about ongoing war and conflict and religious extremism. While the drone attacks perpetrated by the US military and terrorist attacks by religious extremists, are real, this is only part of the picture.
There have been struggles involving hundreds of thousands of workers, peasants and students, resisting exploitation by landlords and factory owners, attacks by the corrupt Pakistani state, the abandonment of victims of climate catastrophes, violence against women, religious intolerance as well as the violence fuelled by state-linked religious terror outfits and US interference.
Alia Amiralia’s will use her visit to Australia and her eyewitness account of the events currently taking place in Pakistan to dispel the misconceptions about Pakistan, and highlight the massive toll that Western-promoted neo-liberal economic policies are taking on the common people of Pakistan and its relationship to the War on Terror.
As a dedicated student activist, Alia Amiralia will share her experiences of successfully building left-wing campaigns on university campuses, despite intimidation perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists.
Socialists have been prominent across the spectrum of struggles for justice in Pakistan. Alia Amiralia will also discuss the recent merger of the three largest socialist organisations in Pakistan into the newly formed Awami Workers Party.
Alia Amiralia's national speaking tour has been organized by the Socialist Alliance.