Taimur Rahman

Taimur Rahman is a Pakistani academic, musician and socialist political activist. He is the General Secretary of the Mazdoor Kissan Party of Pakistan. He is the lead guitarist and spokesperson for the progressive music band Laal. He teaches political science at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. He has been outspoken in his criticism of capitalist exploitation and religious fundamentalism. He is the author of the book The Class Structure of Pakistan published by Oxford University Press. The book won the Akhtar Hameed Khan Memorial Award for the best social sciences book about Pakistan in 2012.

Taimur Rahman
تیمور رحمان
Birth nameTaimur Rahman
Born (1975-05-27) 27 May 1975
Lahore
OriginLahore, Pakistan
GenresPopular Rock
Occupation(s)Musician, academic
InstrumentsVocals, guitar
LabelsFire Records (Pakistan)
Associated actsLaal

Early life and education

Rahman comes from a "bourgeois" family, but his parents were engaged with the Left movement since before he was born.[1] He spent his childhood in the midst of extreme state and military repression in the hands of the Zia ul Haq government of the late 1970s-80s, which also influenced him politically.[2] He was involved with the theater in his teen years as an actor, director and producer. He studied in the Aitchison College, graduated from Grinnell College, obtained a Masters from Sussex University and holds a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies. He has also taught Economics at The Lahore School of Economics.

Political career

During Rahman's college life in USA, he got engaged with Trade Union politics. He worked with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO), International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and various leftist parties.[1] After returning to Pakistan in 1998, he joined the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (CMKP). He has been elected to district-level and state-level leadership positions in the parties, and was also elected as the General Secretary of CMKP. In 2015, the CMKP united with the Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Party and People’s National Congress to form Mazdoor Kissan Party (MKP).[3] He is the current General Secretary of the MKP. He identifies as a Marxist Leninist.[2]

Musical career

He is the lead guitarist and spokesperson of the band Laal. His band is known for singing socialist and progressive political songs.[4] The band has released several albums and has toured India, USA, England, etc.

Bibliography
  • Taimur Rahman (27 September 2012). The Class Structure of Pakistan. OUP Pakistan. ISBN 978-0-19-906507-3.

References
  1. "The Poverty of Pakistani Ideology". jacobinmag.com. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  2. Radhakrishnan, Mukulika (11 September 2020). "Class Solidarity Not Identity Politics: Talking to Taimur Rahman". Student Struggle. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  3. "Mazdoor Kissan Party". Economic and Political Weekly. 51 (5): 7–8. 5 June 2015.
  4. www.bbc.co.uk https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vz2bg. Retrieved 27 November 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)


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