Asia

The JKNSF is a significant political force amongst youth in Kashmir. It is now led by Marxists with a clear socialist internationalist programme, and is getting an enthusiastic response from the radicalised Kashmiri youth.

The workers at the Pakistani Steel Mills in Karachi have won a stunning victory over the management, composed of corruput army officials. They occupied the plant and blocked a highway, causing the administration to hastily back down and agree to the workers' demands for better safety conditions in the wake of previous fatal accidents at the mills. This is one of the most important victories for the Pakistani proletariat in recent times - alongside the victory of the Baluchistan public sector workers in Quetta, which was led by Hameed Khan, the organizer of the PTUDC in Quetta. These events will have an impact on the workers far beyond the premises of the Pakistan Steel Mills.

The workers at the Pakistani Steel Mills in Karachi have won a stunning victory over the management, composed of corruput army officials. They occupied the plant and blocked a highway, causing the administration to hastily back down and agree to the workers' demands for better safety conditions in the wake of previous fatal accidents at the mills. This is one of the most important victories for the Pakistani proletariat in recent times - alongside the victory of the Baluchistan public sector workers in Quetta, which was led by Hameed Khan, the organizer of the PTUDC in Quetta. These events will have an impact on the workers far beyond the premises of the Pakistan Steel Mills.

The migrant workers of Hong Kong - who have developed an independent group of unions and achieved almost 100% membership of unions, social and political groups, churches and agencies - have won a major victory in their militant action to prevent any further pay cuts. What remains are the demands to defeat any proposed changes in working conditions, fees and number caps and the new demands raised in a young movement that has now tasted first blood.

We are publishing here Chapter Seven of the book 'Partition, Can it be undone?' by Lal Khan. We are publishing it because of its relevance to the present conflict between India and Pakistan. This chapter analyses the historical background and the economic and strategic interests that have led to the present situation.

Lal Khan, in Lahore, analyses the difficult situation now facing the military dictatorship of General Musharaff after his humiliating submission to the demands of US imperialism. He also looks at the dire economic situation that has been aggravated by the conflict with India

This well researched book was written (by Ahmed Rashid) before the events of September 11th 2001. The author is a journalist who has worked in Afghanistan since 1979. It has been described by The Guardian as the book which is being read by Tony Blair and Alistair Campbell, who allegedly have been heavily influenced by the book. Do not let that deter you from reading this book! It remains to be seen if they have really been influenced by it.

Question: The factional infighting between the Indonesian parliament and the President has reached the point of a severe constitutional crisis. An impeachment procedure against him has now started and will culminate in a special session of the People Representative Assembly on the first of August. This may lead to the censuring of the President and his replacement 22 months after being the first democratically elected president. What are the underlying causes for this protracted crisis at the top of Indonesian society?

NOTE: This is a draft of a talk I presented in May, 1998 at a conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts on the Karabagh Movement. I revised the draft slightly in December 1998, and except for minor changes, I have not bothered to update it since. I should point out, however, that an abundance of new research material has come to light recently, including revelations about massive emigration from the Republic of Armenia. (Some reputable sources have claimed that, by the year 2000, the population of the country had been reduced to one-half of what it had been ten years earlier.) These revelations confirm and reinforce the assessment presented below.

On 10th September, 2000 the PPP held a workers convention at Lahore. The last such convention was held 28 years ago. The PPP chairperson Ms. Benazir Bhutto, who has been declared a "proclaimed offender" on corruption charges by the present military regime, is presently based in London and hence could not be present. The convention was held to reinvigorate the PPP's dwindling support. The party's social base and active support have been severely eroded due to its dismal performance during its last two tenures in power. The right wing policies of these PPP regimes resulted in a sharp decline in the living standards of the masses. This resulted in disillusionment and demoralisation

...

Why an education project for Indonesian socialists?

Over the last 2 years the youth (students, workers and urban poor) in Indonesia have waged a relentless struggle against the Suharto dictatorhsip and his clone Jusuf Habibie. They have manifested time and time again their willingness to free themselves from oppression and capitalist exploitation This has expressed itself in mass demonstrations, strikes, pitched street battles, and land occupations in open defiance of state military power and the Jakarta central oligarchy.

As the war in Afghanistan is far from over, Pakistan's eastern border with India is in the grip of new war hysteria. The massive deployment of troops, the cross border exchange of fire and the fleeing of the inhabitants of border villages are posing the threat of yet another war between the two countries. If this conflict erupts into a full-scale war it would be the fourth major military clash between India and Pakistan in a short span of 54 years of their postcolonial existence.